Sunday morning

The hostel owner assured me that I could find my leather belt and reading glasses at Waroros Market so I was headed that way again. For variety I walked to the south perimeter and continued around the inner ring. This was just as much to spot Brown Rice, a restaurant that had been recommended to me.

The canal has fountains which are more attractive at night when lit.

Interesting building facade but I don't know what they sell. Maybe a Thai reader can enlighten us. I can't read Thai script, it looks to me like printed circuit board traces. Any kind of Latin script, let alone English, is uncommon in Thailand. When I bought a bag of potato crisps, the only word in English was the flavour: Original. I wonder how the expats, an estimated 50,000 in Chiang Mai, cope. I spotted quite a few in the supermarkets and shopping centres, some with Thai wives in tow, or perhaps the other way around.

There is another market on the eastern flank with the usual produce. I was attracted by the brightly coloured lanterns.

There was a display of Thai zodiac animals just outside a gate. Apparently the dragon from the Chinese zodiac is replaced by great snake in the colloquial Thai zodiac. The other animal is the little snake of course.

At the market I found the leatherware stall. When I asked they helpfully took me around to the reading glasses stall. For lunch, from various vendors, I had: steamed pork balls in sweet chilli sauce, fried spring rolls, cylindrical kueh kapit (obviously more widespread than just in Malaysia), boiled peanuts, coconut ice cream, and a guava drink. All cheap, satisfying and as I remembered them.

I wanted a air-con place with WiFi to cool off so I had a coffee and cake at Black Canyon Coffee, just inside the Tha Phae gate, pictured here. (Vestiges of the various gates are at the edge of the old city.) BCC seems to be a Thai franchise chain. Their rivals opposite, Coffee Club, has Australian franchisees, but I see that they are now half owned by Thai interests and going global. Incidentally Thailand has highlands that grow coffee.

Back at the hostel, I got a haircut from a barber around the corner. The queue was long and I had to wait some 45 minutes for my turn, but I had nothing else on the agenda so just had a nap while waiting. It was cheap at 30B (~$1), though the record for the cheapest haircut I've had goes to Cuba at 16¢. Interesting that the barber didn't use the razor to shave the stubble near the ears like he did with the other customers. Maybe he didn't want any trouble from a farang in case he nicked me.

Waroros market

No tours today so I can relax. The Yi Peng lanterns aren't until the evening, naturally, so I had the whole day at my disposal. There were several things I wanted to buy so I was headed for the markets. One was a tool for crimping chor muang, a Thai steamed dumpling. Yui had told me which shop to get it at, and also the important detail that there is a rising inflection on muang.

Most visitors didn't use this gazebo for breakfast as it's separated from the main cluster of tables, but it is pretty.

But first a slow breakfast of müsli and mocha from the hostel bar.

For variety, I decided to try Loi Kroh Road to reach the river, instead of the popular Thanon Ratchadamnoen. This was nowhere near as grand as the map suggested. But I found a Rimping supermarket where I bought a mid-morning snack of chocolate milk, a chicken puff, and a danish pastry. I also couldn't resist buying a bento bowl, with the vague idea of having it for lunch.

I crossed the river and walked along the opposite bank where there were some restaurants with river views. Someone had told me that tables there are often booked for Loi Krathong. Thai massage shops seemed to be everywhere. You can also get fish spa treatment. I last saw those fish in Turkey.

Turning west at Thanon Charoen Muang, I crossed the river then headed north. Waroros Market was a covered building facing another market, Tonlamyai. The ground floor sold food, mostly dried produce and candied fruit. I bought a stick of durian cake, purely for research purposes mind you. The upper levels sold clothing and accessories. I didn't find the leather belt or reading glasses I wanted. 

Nearby is the flower market where Loi Krathong floats were on sale.

The displays were very colourful too. I had been told that Chiang Mai province produces a lot of cut flowers that are transported to Bangkok and other markets.

This is an old restored Chinese temple (with Chinese characters) which means that there must have been Chinese influence or Chinese migration in the past. More than that I couldn't tell you, I didn't swot up on the history of northern Thailand.

Some tortoise shaped baked goods. I suspect they are not meant to be eaten but are religious offerings, perhaps substitutes for real tortoises that are released to gain merit.

I'm pretty sure that these are not meant to be eaten. All that colouring, hmm.

At the Tha Phae gate they had set up a stage and seating. I guessed there would be performances for Yi Peng and made a note to come back later. But it was not to be; it was even better.

At the kitchen utensil shop they didn't speak Chinese as I had been told, so I had to resort to gestures to get them to fish out the chor muang tool from their stock. They communicated the price using a large calculator.

I returned to the hole in the wall place for another satisfying lunch, this time of Pad Thai. Then desert of watermelon slices before going back to the hostel to siesta.