After a good first night and an even better kip we hooked up with our mates Joe & Ellie, who were staying in the same hotel as us, for a bacon & eggs breakfast and decided to head to Chatachuk market – Thailand’s largest – for a mooch and a spot of shopping. It was 11km from where we were; there was a bus but a taxi between four would work out about the same. Joe was adamant about getting a taxi to use the meter, a few weren’t keen and only offered us a price. We soon found out why. The trip which had been quoted to us at 300b only turned out to be 90b officially! New lesson learned.
We got dropped by the market and wandered in through one of the many small entrances, instantly finding ourselves in a bustling corridor of clothes shops. The market was heaving throughout and the saying that you could buy anything there seemed to be true. I got some cheap sunglasses and an extra t-shirt – avoiding some hilariously bad options – and Ali got herself a sarong for 200b (£4) for using to cover up at temples and on the beach.
Using the map we were quite intrigued by the ‘creature’ section and made our way there. Unfortunately rather than dragons and hippogriffs, there were only a few strangely docile seeming mammals for sale (pet hedgehog anyone?) and much of it seemed as cruel as I expected (the fact they wouldn’t let you photograph it said it all).
Finally we got a tasty £1 lunch and got another taxi back. All the taxis waiting outside were staunchly against the use of their meter however we crossed the street and eventually found a guy happy to put his on.
In the evening we ate at our guesthouse, Jenny’s restaurant, which was fantastic – £1.50 main courses as good as anything you’ll find in England – and had a couple of beers before bed. Sweet.
