A Morning Walk

One of the things that gets me about Thailand is all of the different smells.  I know that this might seem weird to mention, but each place that I have lived in has very specific smells.  The thing that I have always noticed about the United States is that we do whatever it takes to make the smell of an area very neutral.  Where I used to live in Hilo, Hawaii, was always quite a shock, because it was a constant battle to fight back the mildew. 

Thailand is a very interesting mix of cooking food, water, and just about any other smell that can be thrown in the mix.  I know it is a weird observation, just something that I noticed this morning very evidently while I was walking along the water behind my apartment during the early morning.

Another aspect of Thailand that can complicate things is that it is not a morning culture.  I love the mornings.  I love the sunrise and a cup of coffee.  Tragically, with Thailand being more of a night culture, most of these mornings take me in search of the one or two shops that might take pity on the caffeine deprived foreigner who is up way too early for any sane person.  You know, like 8:00am.
  

The great thing is that if you can find a place that is willing to serve you coffee that is both not dehydrated and also free of sugar and milk, it is very good.  Oddly enough though, it can be quite hard to find.  I was lucky enough to find a nice place about a kilometer from my house, that serves a nice cup of coffee.  It is also quite scenic.  For some reason it also has a pool that you can swim in for about $2, and it serves lasagna.  I think I know where I will be coming on one of the long and hot weekend days.  

The directions to the place are quite simple.  You walk about a third of a kilometer down the market area, turn right down the dirt road, avoid traffic as there is no sidewalk, then turn right again.  After about a half kilometer of walking you will notice a bunch of bridges and across the river there is a big cartoonish octopus on a seafood restaurant.  You should be in the right locale.  Pass the In-N-Out burger, and you are there.  Yes, an In-N-Out burger.

Needless to say, I am both scared and willing to try this version of In-N-Out.  I mean, it has to be a franchise owned place right?  

The river is quite beautiful in its own right, especially in the morning.  

After a nice walk back, where I did not get hit by any cars and finally found the horses that I have been hearing during the night, I managed to find more of these damn sheep.  I really do not understand the Thai fascination with sheep, but who am I to judge?

Discovering a new market

Decided to go for an impromptu walk in a direction that I had not wandered to during my previous free days.  Wound up walking a kilometer or so towards my workplace and found this gem of a market.  I am also going to guess that either I had something funny tattooed on my face, or they really don't get a lot of random visitors... 

Either way would be fine.

The thing that really gets me about these markets is the vast array of colors.  Fruits and produce in just about every single color imaginable.  I honestly don't think this will ever get old, nor have I seen much like it back in the United States.

Sure, we have our farmer's markets, and there is a lot of cool stuff in them, but they pale in comparison when one is presented with a market that has zero zoning codes and even less worry about the health board shutting them down.  

Want meat? Sure, it is on the table, need to eat some fogs guts?  Why not, next table down.  Don't worry about that meat grinder that is on the ground next to the puddle, all good.  

Oddly enough, I have not gotten really sick yet.  Not sure what is preventing it, perhaps it is just good luck so far.  Time to toughen up the ol' stomach and try and ingest some things that would get a restaurant shut down back home.

As mentioned earlier, frog guts.  I am not sure who would be ordering these, but being as there are plenty of them, I am going to guess they are quite popular...

Yum?

Playing the waiting game...

Had a great time wandering around the different stalls.  The walk back home was pretty uneventful, so I shot some pictures of the surrounding scenery.  I also had the opportunity to meet a dog who felt exactly how I did when confronted with the overbearing sun that exists around 2pm in Thailand.