Chatuchak

Despite the thunderstorms this morning and the perpetually overcast sky (it is the rainy season afterall... more on this in a minute), I ventured out to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. I had my choice of taking the subway or the SkyTrain to the market, so I opted for the SkyTrain, which is new, cheap, safe, and gives a great view of the city.

I wandered around this vast market for several hours and only got completely lost once! Actually, I was probably completely lost for the entire time I was there, I just didn't know it until the one time I thought I'd try to find my way home. It is probably several square miles of stalls with people selling absolutely everything you can imagine. Many of the booths contain handicrafts like woodworking, jewelry, silk clothing and household linens, others have souvenier-type items for sale. The food is everywhere, some of it smells GREAT and some smells AWFUL, and since I didn't have anyone with me to let me know if any of it was safe for a foreigner like me to try, I steered clear of all edibles. I made some purchases and spent a lovely afternoon wandering. Too bad it's only open on the weekends.

Now a note about the seasons here. According to my tourguide Pong, Thailand has three seasons: Winter, Summer, and Rainy. The date that the season changes is up to the King, and the way that he declares the season has changed is by climbing up to the Emerald Buddha and changing his (the Buddha's) clothes. Winter starts in December, but the date depends on when the King changes Buddha into his Winter robes. Summer starts in March, but again the exact date depends on the King & the Emerald Buddha. The rainy season starts in July (thus the thunderstorms and perpetually overcast skies here in the last week of August), so Buddha was dressed in his rainy wear when I saw him yesterday. I like a country where the attire determines the season and not the other way around.

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