Chiang Mai: Warorot Market

My "refuge" for a couple of minutes

Despite my very lengthy posts, in fact it is so lengthy that I manage to break them into a few posts, I could give a very brief description if need to. I would put it down as 4 markets, 1 mountain and many temples.

This is the last "installment" of the markets. Warorot Market makes me feel like the market for everyday life. As in, it is not for tourist but more for people living in Chiang Mai, and I like that.

Warorot Market is about 2 minutes walk north from Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. It opens daily early in the morning and closes after dark.

As usual, I walked. The initial plan was to rent a motorcycle for the day so that after visiting Warorot Market, I could take the bike to Bosang Umbrella Village which was about 9 km away from Chiang Mai city.

I had even googled for recommended motorcycle rental place and such. The hostel I stayed at does provide motorbike for rental but does not include insurance, to which I was a little apprehensive. Not that I am a poor motorcyclist, but more so of worrying it broke down or worse, stolen.

After deciding not to go ahead with renting a motorcycle from the hostel, I walked towards the east side of the city again, towards Tha Pae Gate. I can't remember the name of the shop I went to, after all I ended up leaving without a motorcycle anyway.

On my walk to the motorcycle rental shop, a man came over and talked to me, telling me that he came from the south of Chiang Mai, asking where I came from and such. It ended up with him asking if I could spare him some money. Unfortunately for him, he has probably picked the poorest traveler on the street, it was my last full day in Chiang Mai and I didn't bring much in the first place.

After saying 'no' he slowed down but was continuing walking behind me. It could be that he was heading towards the same direction but I was uncomfortable with the thought that he didn't overtake me but following behind me. After a short while, I turned into one of the temple along the street (the picture above) and waited till he walked passed. He looked inside the temple when he passed but continued his walk. I was relieved and after making a short prayer, I continued my walk... to the motorcycle rental shop.

I was told to leave my passport as part of rental procedure, as guarantee. I refused and asked if there was any alternative. I was told I could pay a deposit of at least $100 USD (if I remember correctly) or 4000 Baht. I tried to negotiate by putting a deposit of AUD $50, that was the maximum I had with me but they told me, only USD or Baht. I politely told them to cancel the rental, as the lady has started to fill up the form as I actually brought much lesser than 4,000 Baht on my little getaway. Grin.

So, I was back to walking again, off to Warorot Market. There was a Chinese temple outside one of the entrance. It was said that you can buy almost anything from Warorot Market. If you are after something, look around and you'll probably find it in Warorot Market. Despite I have only uploaded three pictures, I can assure you there are more things on sale than just these.

Dried and Canned Food

Chilli goodness

Tea or Tea or Tea? LOL

Yummy colourful rice crackers

"Chap fan"

There are stalls at the back and side streets around the Warorot Market selling Hill Tribe products as well as textiles and cloth shops.

 There's also a flower market next to Warorot Market.

I didn't get the cooked dishes but grabbed some snacks to try in pretense that those food would be sufficient. Ha ha. Both snacks were very good but silly me didn't ask for the name in Thai. Darn.

Some sort of pie - 6 Baht each

Coconut Jelly Pie - refreshing and yummy

Coconut Yam Kuih 20 Baht for 5

Watermelon Shake 15 Baht

The watermelon shake was cheaper but not enough watermelon and ya, I forgot to take a snap till almost finished :P

I thought the snacks could substitute as lunch but who am I kidding. I left Warorot Market for Bosang Umbrella Village but had a late lunch after returning. I'll put up a post on Bosang Umbrella Village after this but lunch was a nice chicken noodle soup. Umm.. it was a hot day and noodle soup make me sweating buckets but it was worth it.

Chicken Noodle Soup 30 Baht

I thought I'll give those colourful drinks a try, I pointed to one which I thought I'll try but it ended up to be longan drink that was wayyy too sweet. Overly sweet that I couldn't finish. :(

Side note: I need a longer weekend!