Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Walking to the Ping River, Warorot Market and the Flower Market

A note on my blog – as I mentioned, I am learning how to efficiently use an Android tablet instead of a Windows laptop. At times I struggle to find efficient processes. An example: WordPress does not offer a spelling and grammar checker in the plan I have. And the next plan upgrade is more than double what I am paying now. And, other spelling and grammar checkers that work in browsers (like Grammerly) on Windows and Mac do not work on a browser on an Android machine. And not being an efficient typist, I make many mistakes. Trying to find a solution…the search continues.

Yoga this morning was early, at 8:00 AM with a relatively new teacher, Ta, a young man who integrates a meditative style into the practice. I chose the 8 AM class becasue the 10:00 AM class today is with May, and her classes are attracting advanced students and teachers, so it is likely too aggressive for me. After the class with Ta, as I was walking away from Wild Rose, May was walking in and we chatted briefly. May encouraged me to come to her class, saying, “you can do.” She is always so positive and encouraging. And May is right, if you never try, how do you know? It reminds me of a quote from a favorite book:

If you don’t open yourself up,
how can you ever be surprised by life?
And if you’re not surprised, then what is the bloody point?

My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

I have opened myself up a bit in my life. That led me to a career I loved, and brought me to ten winters in Chiang Mai, and two 800-kilometer pilgrimage walks across Spain to the cathedral in which the remains of Saint James are said to be interred, It may be time to open a little more and go to May’s class – if nothing else, it will be learning experience.

Blue Diamond

After yoga class, I went to Blue Diamond for a late breakfast or early lunch. the food is always good at Blue Diamond. An egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich, a small salad, a small fruit place, and a latte. The bread is baked at Blue Diamond, fresh and delicious.

Chang Moi Road

After my meal at Blue Diamond, I walked to the moat, then down Chang Moi Road aiming to get to Warorot Market. Along the way, I saw that the two fairly large wicker shops are still there and seem to be busy. I think anything made of wicker can be found at these two shops.

Further down Chang Moi Road, I saw the sewing maching shop also still there. This caught my eye several years ago because they had foot-pedal-operated, very old style sewing machines for sale. I was told that they offer fine speed control liked that some of the people who sew. The shop is still in business, and sells many types of sewing machines. These are not old antiques – they are new Singer brand and for sale.

Just down from the sewing maching store was a shop in which a man was repairing sewing machines. He had a couple of the old foot powered machines in his shop, too.

Warorot Market

About a hundred meters later I arrived at Warorot Market. This is a very, very busy place. Outside the main buildings are fruit and produce vendors, inside the buildings are just about anything if you can find it. Almost no English spoken here – this is a market frequented by the Thai locals. A fascinating scene to watch. As I was walking around the market to get to the east side to the flower market, I stopped to photograph the dragon fruit in this fruit vendor’s area. I love dragon fruit, both the read and the white. The flavor is subtle but very nice.

Looks like the red ones are 90 baht ($2.75) and the white ones 50 baht ($1.50). Over to the right are strawberries. They are in season now, and loved in Thailand. Appears that this vendor has few left.

Flower Market

Aroud the corner and there is the flower market, probably 50 meters long and constantly busy. It is along Praisanee Road, a one-way road along the river here. People drive up on this busy road, pull over, haggle with the vendor, buy flowers, and drive away. It is difficult to convey how frenetic and extensive this is in still photos. Here are a few views:

I love the flower market and have posted pictures on my blog almost every time I have visited Chiang Mai. I crossed Praisanee Road to the walkway along the river and climbed the steps to the walking bridge. From here, I will walk to Wat Ket Karam.

Next: Along the River 2: Wat Ket Karam