Facebook is great for putting a shout out for travel advice before you head off on a trip somewhere.  That’s exactly what I did before leaving for Bangkok and one of the suggestions I got (thank you Aida) was to check out the night flower market Pak Khlong Talat.

The market is located on Chak Phet Road but spills out into the adjoining side streets and alleyways.

From what I can gather it’s actually active 24 hours a day but is busiest at night.  It’s the perfect place for an after dinner wander.

Patrick and I let ourselves get lost, soaking in the sights and smells of hundreds and hundreds of colourful fresh-cut blooms being sold in bundles, bags, garlands and more formal arrangements.  At one point we strayed into a large fluorescent-lit warehouse where people were packing flowers at long workbenches.  No one seemed to mind us ambling through.

The market also sells fresh fruit and vegetables and is a great place to test your tropical fruit knowledge.  Mine isn’t as good as I would have hoped, but I have discovered a love for mangosteen.

Maybe it gets more hectic at other times, but when we were there, the atmosphere was very relaxed.  Some of the stallholders were eating dinner, or having a snooze, keeping their energy levels up for the long nights work that still lay ahead.

We saw very few other tourists.  I suppose it’s because fresh fruit and flowers aren’t easily packed in a suitcase, much to Patrick’s dismay.  With a dozen long-stemmed red roses selling at less than $2 a pop he would have liked to stock up for Valentines Day for the next ten years!