Bazaar of the Night
The crown jewel of Chiang Mai's nightlife is the Night Bazaar, opening up at around five in the afternoon. It is a tourist trap, perhaps, since most of the customers are as farang as they come, but still it has incredible bargains. The art of haggling is alive and well in Thailand, and you can make a deal about anything. I'm not an expert in the haggling field, so I waited a while to get in on the program. My best bets worked by peering over the shoulder of someone else, and see what price they got away with. Then I'd push for about 10% lower, on the theory that some random dude is probably not going to be the low price leaders.
You can get just about anything at the Night Market, from the typical array of faux designer watches, clothing and luggage to the Thai silk and silverware that has made the north country famous. Chiang Mai also hosts a feast of woodcarvings, lacquerware and jade artwork to tempt your palate, but be wary. Like almost anywhere else, you're as likely to get ripped off as to find a great deal. Plus it offers the best damn homemade juice I've ever tasted.
If you want a more authentic shopping experience, or at least an overwhelmingly Thai marketplace, try the Chatuchak weekend market in Bangkok. It took me two hours to go from one end to the other, as bumper to bumper shopping stalls, shoppers and just about everything else crowds in the way. This market has it's downsides, it is also home of the wildlife supermarket of the world, a place where endangered species are sold to the highest bidder. Though I've been raised out of the wild, I feel for these fellow animals, and it broke my heart to see them in cages.
Of course, Northen Thailand is not only about shopping -- It's also a gourmets' paradise. It's harder to find a bad meal than a good one, and the only difficulty in eating is knowing when to stop. Throughout the country the cuisine is nothing short of excellent, but it is particularly delectable up here in the northlands. Some of the key northern dishes are the Chiang Mai curry, a spice dish of pork, ginger and coconut cream, or the Khoa Soi, a thick soup served up hot and in large quantities. The best Khoa Soi was found in a nameless shop, just outside Tha Pae gate on the south end of the plaza.
We also sampled the Khan Toke dinner, a dinner-dance show put on as a theoretical version of traditional dance, over at this "150 year old teak mansion." It seemed like the thing to do, like something that you might want to see, but I would not recommend it. The melodramatic show was dull, the actors were bored and the food was overpriced. One way to make it through the show is to try and determine is this is the biggest tourist trap you've ever been to. You'll feel like a sucker once the show is out, and wish you went to some place worth a few dollars more, like the aptly named Riverside, up on Charoenrat road by the river.
