Each side of the busy walkways is crammed with flowers shops and flower carts and the entire walkway is sheltered by a sea of umbrellas and awnings and this on both sides of the road. The rain dripped off the umbrellas and it was impossible to stay dry. Flowers, millions of flowers are just absolutely everywhere. Not only the expected orchids, lotus and roses, but jasmine, chrysanthemum, gerberas ginger flowers, beautiful Heliconias and flowers I wouldn’t be able to name.

The cooler weather breathed favorably upon us and we wandered up into the Fabric district.

Also known as Little India, this market is frequented by few tourists but is nonetheless bustling with locals. The labyrinth of narrow lanes gives way to plentiful rolls of textiles such as silk, cotton, wool and cashmere in all kinds of colours, each to be brought at a good rate. Once crossing Chakraphek Road you will enter Pahurat. Within these first few blocks lay Pahurat’s textile-selling action, so you choose one of the many small alleyways and dive into the heart of it all.

I’m sure the ladies would have like more time to explore but we were focused on buying silk to have garments made.

We designed on the spot. Discussing at length how the patterns and colors would be suitable for the fabric chosen. Roll upon roll of beautiful fabric was displayed in the low tables and the colors took your breath away.

It was fascinating watching the locals pass by the shop window. The men sat in the cool of the air-conditioning and supported our choices of fabric.

We piled into a convoy of Tuk Tuks and found our way to our lunch stop.

One is always tempted by the delicious street food sold by vendors.

You can wander the streets of Bangkok for weeks, pointing at every single thing that looks tasty, handing over a couple dozen baht, and eating until you burst, all without ever trying the same thing twice. And you’d have difficulty spending more than around $10 a day doing it.

Everywhere you go, from the fancy shopping malls downtown, to the grungy streets of Chinatown, to the vast semi-outdoor markets—even in the hyper-touristy areas around the gorgeous wats and palaces in the old city—you’ll find hawkers offering fresh-cooked meals, sometimes eaten straight out of hand, sometimes while perched on little plastic seats around a makeshift picnic table.

However, we opted for a restaurant and I was able to indulge in the Iced Thai coffee.  This is how I make it at home, and I think ours had condensed milk in it.

Add cardamom to the ground coffee, and brew the coffee; when the coffee is brewed, add a little sugar and almond flavoring, mix well and then let the coffee cool to lukewarm.  Fill the glass  half-way to the rim with crushed ice and then fill two-thirds full with coffee; into each glass, stir about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream or condensed milk. To achieve a layered effect, hold a spoon on top of the coffee and pour the cream slowly into the spoon so that the cream floats on top of the glass over the coffee.

Some of the ladies opted for Iced Tea. However, it’s very different to the American Style.

Back onto the orange ferry and that was only part of tour day.

I didn’t have much time to take photos during our class session in the hotel and then it was a fast turn around to take our first trip on the BTR to a local shopping mall.

Already, new cases are being purchased for our wonderful textile goodies and this was only day one.