Oberon resident Kay Jones, who is travelling overseas, is sharing her experiences with Oberon Review readers.
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Recently my friend Patty called around on her motorbike to take me into town to have breakfast at the Muslim Market in Halal Town. As we sped along with me riding behind her, wind blowing in my face, keeping me cool in the early morning breeze, I likened myself to the family dog riding in the back seat of the car with his nose sticking out through the window, sniffing the breeze.
Patty wound around the back streets of Old Chiang Mai until I finally recognised a familiar place – Somphet Market. It was actually in this street where I first met Patty. She was manager of a massage parlour at that time and I was wandering around looking for somewhere to get a manicure.
But today we were off to a different market, the Chinese Muslim Market, opposite the oldest mosque in Chiang Mai. It had been two years since I was last there and my how it has grown. It was at least twice the size of my last visit.
The markets have become very popular with people coming and going, buying this, tasting that and trying to get a bargain before it is all sold out. I was intrigued by what looked like small white potatoes all bunched together by their thin stalks. They looked like potatoes but obviously they grow differently here. I had to buy some and found out that one peels and eats them like an apple. You don’t cook them!
We wandered past Chinese farmers selling fresh fruit and veges of all sorts and kinds. I was amazed at the size and colour of the peaches. I purchased two and some huge yellow passionfruit. I would have bought more fresh produce but how was I going to get them all home on the back of the motorbike?
There were ladies selling freshly fried samosa with potato and pea fillings, fried tofu, fried onion rings that looked like bird nests, corn cakes and many other interesting foods that it is too hard to describe.
However, we were keen to find the lady who sold this amazing soybean soup which I have had before. There she was – her business now had expanded from two large tables to four!
Patty bought some fried onions with fried Thai herbs and fried tofu to eat while we waited for our soup. The soup was very thick, with noodles, peanuts, shallots, lots of garlic and herbs. There was also a large bowl of Chimchee, which is pickled vegetables and spices, which we could help ourselves to and mix into our soup. This was so yummy!
On our way home Patty took me by a lake at the foot of Doi Suthep which was surrounded by lush, green vegetation and trees. We stopped for a photo shoot and then drove through the lovely grounds of the Chiang Mai University.