Quick Update, Not On A Beach Yet!!

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Hello everyone! It's rather late here but I wanted to post a quick update to let you all know what is happening on our side of the planet...

Shortly after the last entry we were researching train tickets, ready to book something for Dec 1 to Phuket. Well, can you believe train tickets were MORE expensive than flying?! The train, for two people, came out to ~$120 and if we waited until Tuesday Dec 5 we could fly to Krabi for $80. So, naturally we decided to tough it out in Bangkok for a few extra days and booked the flight to Krabi. Krabi is not far from Phuket, 3 hours on a cheap bus (we looked into bus tickets so that won't be a surprise).

Since we extended our stay in the big city this required booking more nights at a hostel somewhere. There was no way we could survive at the first place sans aircon, plus it was so far outside of the "happening" areas. A search on the internet found us another place close to the Skytrain, with aircon and a restaurant, for a little less than double the price of the first place. Considering this is still $12 instead of $6, it's not a big deal. Once we arrived at the new hostel we promptly turned the sweet a/c as cold and strong as it would go and relaxed for awhile basking in the refreshing coolness. The pizza's made in the restaurant are not too overpriced, the owner is a delightful Aussie named Big John, and the beds are super comfy. I don't know why we didn't book here from the beginning!

Now that we have a few extra days here we were able to shop through the entire weekend at the largest weekend market in the world. I'm not kidding. The Chatuchak Weekend Market is thought to be the largest weekend market in the entire world. I've read estimates ranging from 9000-15000 stalls, covering more than 35 acres! That's a big market...You can find anything and everything among the mazes of vendors here, from clothing galore to spices to housewares to art to books to food to fluffy puppies. Yes puppies. Any breed/color/sex of puppy you wish to purchase was on sale, along with any accessories such as beds, books and cute dresses. Unfortunately I had to leave the puppy section because the way these dogs were being treated was not very humanely (in my opinion). The heat is absolutely sweltering, hot enough for us people, now imagine wearing a fur coat in all of it. They have open type playpens where they keep the puppies so you can reach in and pet them and admire their cuteness. There were fans directed towards the play areas, but half of the dogs were so hot they were panting and just lying in puddles of dehydration. Most of the kennels/play areas did not have water supplied to them either. I nearly had a breakdown, I was having to show some severe self control to not burst into angry tears and start yelling at the shop keepers. Thankfully there was only a small "open air" section of animals, and the rest of the rows contained closed stores which were air conditioned and the pups looked much healthier, livelier and happy in there. On an hilarious note a common pet appears to be chipmunks or squirrel type things. One stand had many of these things tied to the cages with "leashes" and each squirrel/chipmunk had a wool hat tied on it's head. If you've never seen a chipmunk with a woolen hat on it's head, it's a ridiculous sight!! There were large signs posted everywhere advising you that photos or videos were prohibited, so I assume it's illegal to sell chipmunks (with woolen caps). I wish I could have snuck a photo of one of the amusing little guys.

We certainly shopped until we dropped, on both Saturday and Sunday. Even after spending 2 entire days at the market, we still did not manage to see all of it. I estimate there is still half left unexplored, but I could care less if you show me another shop, stall or vendor. T-shirts and shorts were the main item we were shopping for, as most of our clothes we brought consisted of long pants and long sleeve shirts. This heat is unreal, and since we are heading to the beaches we decided our wardrobes needed some appropriate gear. We made out quite well, t-shirts were going for a rough average of 150Baht (37Baht = $1CDN) we found one stall selling shorts for 79Baht although most were in the 200-250Baht range, flip flops for 50Baht and sunglasses for 200Baht. As some of you will know, we are major "cool t-shirt" collectors and there was no shortage here of nifty items. We picked up a ridiculous amount (last count was 27) though a good portion are being mailed home as they are souvenirs and not for the trip.

My prize item is a knock off "Baby Milo" hoodie for a steal at 500Baht. Do you remember one of our entries from Tokyo describing a brand called "Bathing Ape"? Well Baby Milo is one of the offshoot brands of that, and their clothing is insanely priced. The hoodie I wanted at the actual store was $220...For a simple HOODIE! It's quite a decent knock off, and the only one I saw in the entire market, so I was elated when it fit and I was able to barter the shopkeeper down to 500Baht ($13.50). Devlin picked up a few Bathing Ape t-shirts as well, amidst the massive new collection we have.

If you are ever in Bangkok and like shopping (even if you don't like shopping) this market can't be missed. It can be a bit taxing on your patience, especially come mid-day when the sun is at it's hottest, the aisles are at their fullest, and you have a few pounds in a shopping bag you've been lugging around. But it's a certain experience, and you definitely won't walk away with empty hands or wallet. We felt like we went on an absolute spree, picking up t-shirts, flip flops, shorts and sunglasses galore, along with the required bottles of water to keep hydrated, snacks and lunch, and were surprised to come home and find out we only spent $120. There is even a DHL stall and a post office stall from which you can post home any large items which you can't carry, such as artwork or lamps.

Thai food is another thing I want to note. It's weird! I miss China for the food!! There is limited English on any menus here, and not a lot of pictures at which to point either. It seems there are a lot of soups or curries, all of which contain very strange looking ingredients and smell a little funky. I was experimental in China, but I'm finding it harder to do here. A LOT of dishes also contain fish or seafood, which I have a strong dislike for, or they are very very spicy. Tonight we ate at a restaurant and I ordered what I thought sounded exciting, garlic stir fried pork with peppers and rice...it turns out it was just a few pieces of bbq'd meat on plain white rice. It was certainly edible and safe, but definitely bland. The most exciting thing we've eaten has been spring rolls, which are sold at nearly every street food vendor and are always delicious and cheap. Surprisingly spring rolls were something we missed from China, as they were nowhere to be found there (one Chinese food restaurant in China informed us "spring rolls" were only served in the spring...to which we both exchanged puzzled looks and chose something else from the menu).

Also the bugs are much larger here. We saw bugs in China, in Hong Kong we even had to kill a rather large cockroach who was heading straight for our bunks in the dorm. But here the roaches are massive! I've seen more than a few squished on the sidewalks, or hiding in the shadowy corners. Thankfully none in our room, though in the last hostel Dev swore he saw a large rat in the shared toilet. We speculate it might have been a pet squirrel, although it was running around the house loose, looked much larger than the pets we've seen, and had a long skinny tail instead of a bushy one.

We are waiting to hear back on the availability of a resort in Phuket, on Patong Beach. In the next few days our plans should be set in stone for our Christmas "break". Due to the holidays, all of the beaches fill up and require advance reservations and minimum 5 day stays. Also the prices skyrocket, so we figured our best plan of action was to find a cheap decent resort and just stay there until our visa's expire on Dec 27. At that time we'll head into Malaysia on route to Singapore for New Years Eve, then spend a bit of time back in Malaysia before entering Thailand again. We are certainly looking forward to a relaxing three weeks on the beach, and have many activities planned such as sea kayaking, island exploring, and obtaining our PADI Open Water Diving Certifications.

Well that's about it from us. It is so strange to think it's nearly Christmas, yet it's +40 degrees out everyday with 80% humidity. There are lights and decorations everywhere though, much more so than China, and I've heard many carols being played in shops and malls. We miss you all, it's a little bit difficult to be away from our families and friends during the holidays.

Sending our love, hugs and holiday wishes,

Erin and Devlin

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