Day 322: In the market

We went to McDonald's again for breakfast this morning and then caught the sky train to Mo Chit station, where we joined the stream of humanity flowing to the nearby Chatuchak Weekend Market, the largest in Thailand. We started, like everyone else, in the clothing section, but then as we made our way through the warren of stalls, we eventually came across the pet section, where the girls oohed and aahed over the various toy dogs in cages and I tut-tutted at the signs saying 'No photos'. Around the corner, we found a stall selling squirrels and chipmunks – weird dead-eyed zombie rodents, dressed up in 'cute' outfits, sitting motionless on top of their cages. The stallholders were equally dour and dead-eyed, resembling movie villains whose heartless form of commerce had left them dead inside, but who would eventually be dispatched by a wave of furry little animals. 

We soon hit another clothing vein and Kate bought a pair of shorts and then spent a long time prevaricating over a new pair of flip-flops/thongs, while the girls sat beside an air conditioner and attempted to return their bodies to an acceptable temperature. When we started to feel stalled out, we walked out of the market and up the road to the Children's Discovery Centre - a sort of kids science museum and library. In addition to the museumy bit, the centre has a lot of outdoor play areas, including a big water-play area. We had come prepared and the girls stripped off and ran into the spraying bits, making Kate and I jealous as we sat and sweated in the 35C+ heat. 

When they inexplicably turned the water off, we went inside the museum itself and wandered around checking out the very interactive exhibits. It was all pitched a bit low for girls (and was mostly in Thai) but they still managed to find enough to keep themselves amused. They signed up for a cooking class and while they were busy 'cooking', I walked back to the market, where I bought a couple of t-shirts. When I got back, they had just finished up, and headed out to make use of the playgrounds, including the water-play area again, so I headed back into the market, where I managed to buy a few more t-shirts. I really know how to buy a t-shirt. We were actually really impressed by the market. Most Asian markets are just a huge collection of stalls selling variations on a limited number of themes, all overflowing with stock that they'll never be able to sell because it's so hideous. Here, on the other hand, were people selling quirky clothes with original designs – given more luggage space, I could have bought loads more stuff.

After the water play area had been closed again, we all went into the library, where the girls did a bit of craft and then we headed back through the market and to the sky train station. On the way back to the hostel we stopped for some burgers and slushies at McDonald's and then went back to Harmonique for dinner.