Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

After our trip to the 300 step Temple, Nicola and I fancied a more relaxed evening so we headed to Chiang Mai's famous Night Bazaar. The Bazaar is located along one long stretch of road, with market stalls housing overly enthusiastic traders crammed next to each other. There was a sea of fake products and jewelry (touted as real silver but with a hint of copper showing underneath) to swim through before you could find what you were looking for, and in my case that was beer t-shirts.   

I quite enjoyed the haggling experience, remembering to keep smiling throughout so as to not offend the trader. I managed to get a decent discount on all my items, knocking a Chang beer vest down from 200 Baht to 120 Baht, and a Singha Beer t-shirt from 250 to 160 Baht. You will have to keep you eyes peeled for those two delightful items as this blog progresses. Nicola managed to knock a few Baht off two purses she bought, snapping the pair for a remarkable 18 Baht. (By way of reference 47 Baht is roughly £1).

We did manage to discover the ONLY market trader in Thailand who was not prepared to barter. As a result, out of principle I refused to pay full price for a pair of comfy looking Japanese trousers (which is a minor regret), whereas Nicola did pay full price and now happily sports a dashing pair of pantaloons.

After a frenetic few hours at the Night Bazaar we decided to call it quits and head back to the hotel. We tried to catch a ride with a local taxi (the ones that look like mini army troop carriers) but were quoted a vastly inflated price of 50 Baht each, so we decided to take a ride on a tuk tuk instead...