Night Markets

A quick word(s) about night markets. They rule! Best invention of all time? Yes. Reason enough to come to Thailand? Yes. Number of dishes eaten by Robby in one sitting? 4 (so far...) Number of unidentifiable foodstuffs on sticks? Too many to count.

Night markets are basically what Pike Place Market could/should be if it were open at night and was full of ridiculous things that came on sticks. It seems that most every town in Thailand worth shaking a squid at has one. Of course, some are better than others but all are better than any other dinner options. These outside markets contain rows and rows of stalls surrounding a a central area that has dozens of stands selling food. The stalls have on offer everything one could ever want to cook or eat, including many things that you never knew existed.

Lets start with stuff on sticks.
There is; chicken on a stick, chicken kidneys on a stick, pork balls on a stick, fish balls on a stick, whole fish on a stick, crab on a stick, prawns on a stick, squid (whole or sliced) on a stick, hotdogs(pork and chicken) on a stick, hotdogs wrapped up like eggrolls on a stick, dumplings full of unknown numbers of unknown things on a stick, various vegetables on a stick, various fruits on a stick... Oh you like fruit do you? In the non skewered options there is every fruit you can think of plus a whole host of ones that you never knew were out there. There are; Watermelons both red and yellow(?), cantaloupe, coconuts, apples, oranges, limes, pears, dragonfruit, mangoes, papayas, bananas, grapes, several varieties of mysterious spine covered fruits, several varieties of non-discript unknown fruits... Full assortment of vegetables? Check. Every possible cut of beef, pork and chicken(with or without head, with or without feet, or if you prefer, just the feet)? Check. Everything that has, does or ever will live in the ocean? Check. Live catfish? Check. Filleted catfish? Check. Live eel? Check. Loafs of bread with any number of different, hidden fillings? Check. Regular loaf of bread? Maybe. Doughnuts? Check. Little balls of fried dough with prawns, crab, ham, or anything else you can think of in them? Check. All kinds of esoteric and incredibly popular deserts that come in plastic bags? Check. Did I mention noodles? Noodle soup? Check. Noodles in gravy? Check. Noodles with any or all the above mentioned things? Check. Rice? Check. Am I forgetting anything? Probably. Everything less than $1? Check.

Then of course there are all of there non food related things for sale. Clothes, shoes, electronics, culinary tools, CDs, books, ect. Think of it as a Wal-Mart crossed with the Pike Place Market and its outside and at night.

Is it the best thing ever? CHECK!
-Robby

P.S. I LOVE THAILAND! Robby forgot to mention that night markets are that much better after paying less than $2 to swim in a swanky hotel's pool to work up a huge appetite for THINGS ON STICKS!--Lucy

P.P.S.
Tonight we found a stand that sells fireworks! I knew I was forgetting something!
Also, I ordered what I thought was a type of noodle dish. I ended up with a whole fried fish the size of a football! I LOVE NIGHT MARKETS!
-Robby