so we were off,
to the weekend plant market on the Sumkivitt Road,
to find it if you are leaving Pattaya for Bangkok, as you go past the Bangkok Pattaya hospital on your left, take the next 'U' turn and the market is immediately on your left,
we parked up and wandered into the market,
through one of the aquatic stalls,
and found these strange looking plants,
in hanging baskets,
I am not sure what they are, but there were two different types,
but I do know what these are,
they are commonly called monkey cups (Nepenthes), and are insectivorous,
as are all of these,
and there were lots of them,
these my favourite all of the insectivorous plants, the Venus flytrap, (Dionaea muscipula),
the next stall along sold waterlilies,
this one in flower,
the next stall selling mosses and plants that like both the damp and shade,
cactus and succulents were next in the line up,
and here lots of items for your miniature garden,
many of the stalls had a few flowering amaryllis in them,
this plant new to me,
with it's strange delicate flowers,
roses of course,
and another waterlily stall,
each bag containing three different lilies,
we walked past the wood furniture stall,
towards one of the stalls,
selling a few orchids,
a nice self contained garden, for condominium dwellers like us,
a few more orchids,
and another cactus stall,
and then I saw it, grazing at the base of one of the cactus,
a little tiny elephant,
at the end of the aisle some bougainvillea,
looking splendid in the sunlight,
also at this end of the aisle is where the big trees hang out,
this section is next to Mini Siam,
also here are the many fruit trees that are for sale,
we made our way back in the next aisle,
passing these happy faces,
as well as more orchids,
and cactus stalls,
I thought this was a neat idea, to save people tripping over the guy ropes for the sun and rain awnings the owner had made a feature of them by placing small palms and bromeliads (Bromeliaceae), around them,
next door a stall selling water features,
this stall selling cut orchids,
some made into temple offerings,
others bunched,
ready for sale,
this stall specialising in aquatic,
and water loving plants, and of course waterlilies,
another aquatic stall,
and I just had to take this pretty in pink motorcycle, the driver matching with his pink shirt and hat,
another specialist stall,
thus one selling bromeliads,
and this one cactus,
with lots of moon cactus on it,
pots,
lots and lots of pots,
well you have to put your plants in something if you do not have a garden,
the food and drinks section here has grown over the years,
5 or 6 years ago there was just one stall selling hot and cold drinks,
now there are about 10 or 15 selling drinks and food,
so ice coffee,
it is then,
we walked along another aisle, with more pots,
and these wooden baskets which you hang for orchids,
lots of gardening implements for sale,
as well as local produce,
all of the plants here liking shade,
we then found the orchid stall I was looking for,
it has the most amazing orchids for sale,
all of these pictures,
were taken on the same small stall,
but the variety and colours,
has to be seen to be believed,
it was almost worth the trip here,
just to see this one stall,
amazing!
the last time we were here small plants like these were 40 baht each 3 for 100 baht, nothing stays the same forever,
as we were leaving we came a cross another stall,
selling water lilies,
with a number in flower,
as an aside,
most water lily blooms last for 4 days or so,
so onto the motorcycle and off home,
where in the evening we sat outside on the balcony,
and had a delicious chicken casserole,
and with thanks to Jim and Cher a chocolate, or two,
after our meal as we were listening to music we had an unexpected guest, that took a shine to my wine glass,
I am not sure which specie this one is,
he made a move for the wall, and then disappeared into the night, as the midnight hour approached it was time to go inside and we were off to bed.
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