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Photos by MJ Klein

Khonkaen has a market that is not visible from any street.  If you don’t know where this market is, you may never end up visiting it.

The Hidden Market is found between blocks, in an area between the buildings.  I had been to Khonkaen a dozen times before I stumbled across it.

We walked down the street until we found a place to cut over into the market.  In this photo we’re walking South.

This is a shot of a side street (facing West) but the market isn’t visible just yet.

We passed by a few clothing sellers and are getting close.

We’re almost there!

What’s this?  A show of some sort….

We turned to the right and into this building.  This shot was taken from the reverse angle and shows where we just came from.  This is the beginning of a huge indoor market area.

So we turned right off the street and went into that big building where the show was going on.  Then we took a left and started walking South again, but this time, inside the building and not outside on the street.

This part of the market has tons of clothing sellers.

We’re heading for the light up ahead….

Finally we find our way out of that area and behold, there is the Hidden Market!

This part of the market is actually outdoors but it’s completely covered with umbrellas.

The umbrella cover is so complete that it sometimes is dark even though the sun is out.

This entire market takes place in an area that would normally be a road.  But the road isn’t there.

The variety of products for sale is unbelievable.

This is a side street on the Hidden Market.  This shot faces West.

This shot faces East from the same place.

We’re going to continue to walk South through the market.

Everything is very fresh.

Unlike some markets we’ve visited, the meats are excellent quality and very fresh.

Naturally, this being Thailand, there are lots of spices!

These steamed fish are a local delicacy and only 25 baht.

Now, this is where the market changes character.  Not only are there more household goods at this stage, the market is now inside a building.  So if you had a hard time finding the umbrellaed area, you probably wouldn’t be able to find this section at all.

There are food items along this section too, but they are in the center of the aisle, whereas the household goods appear to be along the side.

How do you like your bees?  Thais are huge fans of cooked insects.

Bread products.

Good old-fashioned pork rinds!

Just about anything you could want.

Nearing the end of this incredible market, we find a small temple.

Taking a left at the temple and working our way back out to the main street, I stopped to turn around to photograph a man carrying huge blocks of ice.

This is how you get out of the Hidden Market and back on the main street.

This is the last food seller on that street.  Nice pig heads for sale!

We hope you enjoyed reading about the Hidden Market.  Of course, this market is well known and shopped by the local people.  But not everyone who visits Khonkaen finds out about this treasure.  We’re glad to bring you the story about it.  Thanks for reading!

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