Sunday morning we hopped on the Sky Train and took it all the way to the end of the green line (Mo Chit) to the Chatuchak Weekend Market (also known as JJ Market). Again, I’d like to point out that the trains in Bangkok are very easy to use. Get a day pass if you think you’re going to take more than two rides and just so you know there’s a 300 baht minimum if you want to use your credit card.
The Chatuchak Weekend Market is probably the second largest market I’ve ever seen (the largest being the souq in Fez). Despite the thousands of vendors and tens of thousands shoppers, the market is surprisingly calm. It’s here that you can get pretty much anything: art, clothes, souvenirs, plants, cow penis, jewelry, etc. Because the market is so confusing you can get a map of it at the information booths. Be sure to bring your ATM card, which we forgot to do, so that you can get cash if needed because most of the vendors do not take credit card. Also, it can get really hot and muggy, both inside and outside so be sure to be prepared for that. You could spend anywhere from an hour to a good part of the day here depending on your purchasing wants/needs.
After some shopping, we decided to really treat ourselves and made our way to Lavana Spa. Again, I feel the need to point out that no, this is not a happy ending massage parlor. Lavana Spa is a very western, clean, classy place. It’s here that we purchased a 90-minute Thai massage and herb treatment session for 900 baht ($30 — so freaking cheap). Lavana Spa started us off with a cup of tea, they washed our feet and then put us in a massive zen room. I’m not sure how big the whole place is, but the room we got was about the size of a small yoga studio. The Thai massage wasn’t like a typical Swedish massage with oils. The Thai massage consists more of putting your body in yoga positions and applying stretching and pressure to work out the kinks. The herb treatment is what I think was a heated glove with steamed herbs (? couldn’t really tell because my face was in the floor) which was applied to the body to warm and relax the muscles. It concluded with a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream (kind of random).
When you’re in SE Asia, with the cheap prices for spa treatments, you really must take advantage of it and Lavana Spa is a good place to go if you want to keep it classy. Want anything more than that? Just go out on the street and you’ll find someone within 30 seconds.
Here and There 