Stanley's pictures: Just Around The Corner From The Fish Market

there is a section on the main road of plant shops,

we parked the car and what did we find? this being Thailand the first shop sold orchids,

the shop next door everlasting birds,

being of course in the plant section there were many garden features for sale as well, the front of each shop was quiet small, but they did go a long way back,

just a short walk brought you to a pathway that ran parallel to the main road, but you could not a hear any traffic at all,

the plants on the left belonging to the shop that fronted the road, the plants to the right a completely different shop,

these at the rear of the garden ornament shop on the main road,

then I spotted a display of bonsai,

this was the one for me!

or this one, in need of a little attention,

I was not too keen on this one thought, but it does show some neat wiring to give the tree it's shape,

although difficult to see there are some berries/fruit on this one,

they are a bit easier to see here,

the downside was that the owner was no where to be seen, so I could not ask how much they were,

there were of course lots of other plants available to purchase,

but it seemed so strange that shops like this one were tucked so far away from the main road, unless you took the time to walk there you would never have seen them,

now these are easy to keep!

there were a number of shops selling orchids along the way,

this pot with four flower trusses in it was 2,000 baht, just over £40.00, after exploring this side of the road,

I kept looking over the road to these shops,

and nice they were too, notice the wheels on the stands to take the trees in at night,

we were on the right the bonsai shops on the left, you have no idea how long it to wait for a space of clear traffic to take the previous couple of shots, so over the pedestrian walk way,

and by a strange piece of luck walked past the shop, Phuket Aquarium, that made my aquariums and brought them down to Pattaya for me,

but on to the bonsai we had come to look at, I say look because that is all I needed to know that they were well out of our price range,

they were superb,

the countless hours that must have gone into producing any one of these, in case you are wondering I did ask the price of this one, 65,000 baht, £1,311.00 in UK money, defiantly out of reach for us!

every tree look so right,

there were some smaller trees for sale as well, but looking just at the pots I decided not to ask how much,

as for the bigger trees Diana is in the picture to give some idea of scale,

what a display,

I especially liked the moss effect over the base of the tree,

then on to the next shop, the one with the trees on wheels,

this was the first, a sort of forest look with several trees in a group,

I really liked this one, so I asked how much, but was told this is the only tree they have not for sale, it has been in the family for over 100 years!

although the tree has been repotted more than a few times this pot looks like it too could be 100 years old, it may seem strange to have chains round the trees, but these displays are on a main road, so a snatch and go could happen,

we then went to some shops behind the main one, the trees here were a little cheaper, this one 2,600 baht, £52.00,

I was tempted, but as we had just bought the fish I thought we would leave it, in any case in two months or so we are coming back to pick Diana's passport up, so we can have another look then,