Day 37 and 38: Coffee and Markets

Day 37

Today we are moving into an apartment for a week and I can't wait. The owners are as lovely and helpful as we thought they would be. They pick us up from the hostel, early, give us a tour of the area and then drop us off at the place at 9am, a whole 5 hours early. The place is also amazing, it's light and airy, with a kitchen, two balconies and desk and a dining room table which is all bliss compared to what we are used to. And to top of the awesomeness of the place? It has a pool and a gym!! All for £19 a night, heaven. 

Once unpacked and our finger prints taken for the door scanner downstairs (very hi tec) we head on out. Our place is about a mile from Nimmanahaemide Road which is one of the trendy strips in the city. It also has some of the best coffee in Thailand so our first stop is a cafe called Ristr8o which serves the best coffee Ben has ever had and a cup of ice cream for me, I think we'll be back here. If Ben's vice is coffee, mine is salad so we stop to have lunch at a place called Salad Concept, where you build your own yummy salad from the base up, it's so darn good. We start to wander back now as we want to get some food for the apartment, but get distracted by a factory style gift shop. Everything here is so cheap, I could honestly buy it all so we grab some gifts and some bits for us (our bags are getting fuller and fuller) Also on this walk back over heard the whitest, poshest old man stating "I prefer the North, it has a better class of Farang*" Me and Ben have never laughed so hard.

*A Farang is the Thai word for tourist

We finally get into Maya, and buy enough food for a few meals in a scrummy Wholefood like place. Ladened with bags we start to walk back when we hit my holy grail. Second hand shop! They sell by the weight, and I grab a cool leopard print jacket and a vintage dress for a ridiculously cheap price and could buy the shop if I had space...bingo, I'll send a box home! Back in the apartment, we have a gym session and a swim before I start cooking (I've missed this) and Ben gets us a moped for the week.

Fed and ready we go off out, stopping first at the coolest cafe. Catmosphere is a cafe full of cats and my Mr Doolittle is in there in a shot. We play with the kitties for an hour, we spot a sign saying They won't replace any food or drink nibbled by the cats, how is that a negative?! After this we hop on the bike and get lost for half an hour before we find the Saturday Night Market. It's completely rammed, the space is so full you can't see the sides but I do find some cheap vans and some tasty spring rolls. It gets a bit too much after a while being barged and squashes so we head back and sink into the sifted bed I have slept on in ages.

Day 38

Having our own place is brilliant, after a late lie in, Ben makes breakfast and we just mooch. We also get a wash done and literally do our whole bags so everything is fresh and clean. Our day doesn't get much more racing than that and we swim, gym and lunch. Tonight there is another street market and this one is my favourite of all we've been to. We start off with food on sticks and sushi (another first for me) which we ate whilst wander around. 

The market is split over two areas, with the second bigger part bring on a closed road. It's not bigger than yesterday but better laid out so you don't feel so much like a sardine,  and it's full of people, musicians and stalls. The items tonight are more handicraft than counterfeit and I really could have filled my bag ten times over with pictures, shades and clothes. We shop and buy a few bits but mainly just take it all in, I love being part of it all.

Once broke, we load up the moped and head back in the cool air, I think I'm falling in love.