3 Ginger Snaps

We have left Vietnam and we were sad to go. It was such an inspiring country: gritty, industrious, historic, tasty, innovative. Our last five days in Ha Noi were very memorable from the bakery we visited around the corner from our Air B and B where the baker scolded me because Arden didn’t have a sweater on (Arden’s choice) to the woman in the market who hit me (not hard, but hard enough that I knew and she knew she was hitting me) when I refused to pay $30/kg for fresh cherries that she was very keen to sell me, to visiting the Vietnamese women’s Museum the day before International Women’s Day. But time passes and visas expire so it was time to move on. 

We landed in Bangkok this afternoon. It is fascinating. We got out almost right away and hit the streets. The skystrain here is an incredible rail system and Hil had read up on it in advance and found us a hotel in the budget close to a stop. Our destination was to be the Asiatique Night Market. If you know the Distillery District in Toronto think that – only Bangkok style: bigger, brighter, busier. 

Lesson 1: how to use the turnstiles and pay as you go ticketing system. 

Waiting for the train. Don’t loose your ticket! You need it to get out of the station. 

The train had a lot to offer. Things to hang on. Parts of the floor that moved. Air conditioning!

The subway connected us to a ferry terminal where we boarded a boat headed for the market. 

One of the main attractions at the market was a large Ferris wheel. Up up and away! Our timing was great – it was just after sunset. The sky was purple and the city was lighting up as we turned through the air. 

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There was one of everything and anything available for sale in the market. The kids chose pizza for dinner (“because we haven’t had pizza in forever dad!”) (they ate pizza for dinner just about a week ago on Cat Ba Island – but whatever… it was after the all night bus ride so maybe they blocked out the memory of the pizza with the memory of the bus ride). 

Here is the part of the night that blew my mind:

There is only one set it tracks in and out of the station. As in the trains going in both directions use the same set of tracks to come and go from the same station and people going in both directions get on and off from the the same platform. Highly organized. Highly efficient. Made me wonder if it is cost effective from the perspective of building and monitoring. Made me wonder if the city of Toronto is paying attention as the estimates for the Scarborough subway extension keep escalating…

Very fun night for us all.