Flowers at Three in the Morning

It is three in the morning, and the street is more awake than midday. Trucks pull up one after another, packed with sacks of marigolds, roses, and orchids straight from the countryside. Workers move fast, stacking flowers into towers taller than a person, calling prices back and forth over the noise.

Tri je ujutro, a ulica je budnija nego u podne. Kamioni pristižu jedan za drugim, natovareni vrećama nevena, ruža i orhideja ravno sa sela. Radnici se kreću brzo, slažu cvijeće u tornjeve više od čovjeka i dovikuju cijene preko buke.

This is Pak Khlong Talat, Bangkok's biggest flower market, and it never really closes. During the day it looks almost sleepy, just a few stalls and quiet corners. But once the sun goes down, florists from across the city arrive to buy fresh stock before dawn, and the market fills with colour and noise that lasts until sunrise.

Ovo je Pak Khlong Talat, najveća cvjetna tržnica u Bangkoku, i zapravo se nikad ne zatvara. Danju izgleda gotovo pospano, tek nekoliko štandova i tihi kutci. Ali čim sunce zađe, cvjećari iz cijeloga grada dolaze kupiti svježu robu prije zore, i tržnica se napuni bojom i bukom koje traju do izlaska sunca.

Imagine standing there yourself, surrounded by the smell of jasmine and the shouting of vendors, buying an armful of flowers before most people have even woken up. In a market like this, night and day simply swap places.

Zamisli da stojiš ondje, okružen mirisom jasmina i vikom prodavača, i kupuješ naramak cvijeća prije nego što se većina ljudi uopće probudila. Na ovakvoj tržnici noć i dan jednostavno zamijene mjesta.