Chatuchak Market, Thai Massage and Island Life

I met two friends here in Thailand last week for a mutual friend's wedding this last weekend. The festivities ended Saturday with our friend, Rashmeen ceremoniously leaving her parents house with her new husband. It was a bit sad, and there was definitely some crying. She is going to be moving to Sweden with her husband who works as an engineer there. I'll post more about the wedding which was absolutely beautiful in another post.

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Sunday Guru Amar, Simmi and I checked out Chatuckuck market which is, if I'm not mistaken, the largest outdoor market in Thailand. They had a plethora of different items from artisanally made clothing and earrings to coconut ice cream served in half a coconut and freshly made Pad Thai. It was almost overwhelming how many little shops there were crammed next to each other. There are tarps that shade from the sun between the shops leading to a feeling of being in some kind of a shopping cave.

We used the skytrain to get from our hotel to the market which was a really fun way to see more of downtown Bangkok, especially since we didn't have a ton of time to explore on foot. That evening I scheduled a traditional Thai massage in my room for 350 Baht which translates currently to about $12 for an hour massage. After the long flight and wedding festivities it was definitely needed.

I booked the massage just a few hours in advance from a booth set up in the hotel lobby. I took a dip in the hotel pool, sat in the sauna for a bit and then headed down to my room a few minutes before 10pm. The woman who showed up to do my massage didn't speak any English. I wanted to ask her how much clothes I should be wearing...but couldn't seem to get the message across. I was already wearing a bikini so I just stayed in that. (I heard later on some other guys from the wedding got a Thai massage in town and were asked to put on disposable speedos so I was probably fine). It was an hour of being kneaded by elbows in all my sore spots and my limbs being pulled and stretched in some unfamiliar ways. It was definitely worth it. After the massage I paid and crawled back into bed and went promptly into a deep sleep.

Monday we spent most of the day traveling via tuk tuk taxi, skytrain, bus and then ferry to a small island off the coast of south east Thailand, Ko Samet. We will be renting scooters to explore the island, lounging on beaches and eating lots of fruit and Thai food. We found an adorable Airbnb that is about $50 US a night and split between the three of us it's a great deal. 2 nights here on the island living the beach life and then it's back to Bangkok to check out temples before Simmi and Guru Amar head back to the states and I continue on to check out the north. More about the island later but now sleep because I'm waking up tomorrow to do yoga on the beach at sunrise!

#thaimassage #Bangkok #Thailand #chatuckakmarket