Market day!

DAY 4.
This morning we have an early start. We set off to drop Peter and Siebrecht at Mae Sot bus station for the next leg of their trip. Siebrecht lets a few tears escape and I imagine that many people find Highland Farm, and Pharanee, hard to leave.
Then we head of to the market. Pharanee travels the 45km to Mae Sot twice a week to buy all the fruit she needs. The vegetables like Pak choi and pumpkin tend to come from the local farms close to the sanctuary. Mandarin oranges are in season at the moment and most stalls are selling them by the bagload. Some of the stall owners must have been out early with the superglue as they have 2ft-tall perfect pyramids of them adorning their stalls. There are also pyramids of football sized Grapefruits. It isn't quite the manic hustle and bustle that I had expected though it is great fun watching Pharanee barter with the stall owners.
So, after buying some nice ripe mangoes, bags of mandarins and olives (a kiwi-sized fruit!) we drive around the corner to get some more bits. This is where the manic hustle and bustle is! We have to drive at around 2mph as motorbikes dodge past and people, carrying all sorts of wonders, cross in front of us. All along the pavement people have stalls or just blankets on the ground. There are chillies of all shapes and sizes, various roots, wodges of coriander, lime leaves, lemongrass, multiple varieties of aubergine, chunks of palm tree and of course lots of designer jeans and T-shirts! It is absolutely fantastic. I was glad I didn't bring my camera as it was a complete assault on the senses and I loved being able to absorb it all. Sights, sound, smells and even stray tastes assaulted me, I was tempted to start touching everything just to complete the sensory experience!
We parked up at Pharanee's favorite stall and loaded up the pick-up with bags of aubergine, cucumbers, watermelons and a few others I have yet to recognise.
On the way home we stopped at Tesco's, it is exactly the same layout as the ones in the U.K but with completely different produce. I stocked up on goodies and availed myself to a pair of Ray-Bans. Genuine article of course! We then stopped off to check out the prices of materials for the enclosures. The rest of the afternoon I spent trying to fix the laptop until the point where it completely turned its toes up!
That night I sat and worked out the various costs for the enclosures using the different materials available to us. I had been all for spending more money on longer lasting materials such as 3in round posts and 1 1/2 in round beams but looking at the difference in price ( between 3-4 times more expensive) I would rather have more enclosures with a network of runways and hatches. Also I think it would be good to have one spare empty enclosure that can be used to move the Gibbons around for a change of scenery and to enable safe cleaning and plenty of enrichment.
Keri ;o)