More tourist-oriented than the weekend walking markets, the night bazaars are a pleasant way to pass the evening.

Typical night market stalls and vendors.
Local vendors setting up shop at Kalare Food & Shopping Centre.

Chang Klan Road is lined sidewalk to sidewalk with stalls and filled with every kind of souvenir imaginable from carved soap artwork to designer knock off purses. There are several night bazaars clustered together and you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart if it wasn’t for the entrance signs telling you otherwise.

Ploen Ruedee Night Market

Ploen Ruedee Night Market - International Food Park
Various food carts at the International Food Park.

Ploen Ruedee Night Market is home to some good, if not a bit expensive, western and international options (as well as the requisite local fare). I picked up some delicious khao soi, a main staple of Northern Thailand cuisine, and also sampled some savory pork buns and french crepes. Banana & Nutella for democratic presidential candidate in 2020? Yes, please.

Pondering the meaning of life (or crepes).
Pondering the meaning of life (or crepes).

Is This Burning Man?

Burnign Man art car or beer cart?
Burning Man art car or Thai beer cart? In a perfect world, both.

Funnily enough, the makeshift and appropriated booths very much reminded me of Burning Man’s DIY, industrial aesthetic (minus all of the playa dust). Or is it the other way around? At any rate, the food was delicious and the beer aplenty.

Drinks and a View

Bus Bar at night by the Mae Ping River.
Bus Bar at night by the Mae Ping River.

The night ended with cocktails atop Bus Bar with a pleasant view of the Mae Ping River, where long boats lazily cruised beneath the neon-lit Iron Bridge (Sapaan Lek). Quiet residential streets and the ambient glow of Chiang Mai at night has already cast it’s lulling spell upon me.

Namaste, as they say?