Markets and street vendors

Markets are usually very colourful. In Asia, covered markets are often called bazaars, from Persian bazar. Bazaars originated in Persia around 3000 B.C. The word can be traced back to a Partian word, baha-char, meaning ‘a place with prices’. (Partian is an extinct language, which was spoken in Persia around the birth of Christ.)

Pictures on this page are arranged alphabetically according to country name.

Afghanistan

Belgium

Brunei

Cambodia

Cameroun

Chile

China

Pictures from Tibet are shown in a separate section.

These people are preparing a huge pile of oranges to be sold at a market in the town of Weining, Guizhou Province. Each fruit is wrapped individually in a plastic bag. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This woman is selling unripe longan fruits (Dimocarpus longan) and peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), Yangshuo, Guangxi Zhuang Province. Unripe longan are not eaten due to their bitterness, but are widely used in traditional medicine. Both species are described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Sacks of spices, lentils (Lens culinaris), peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), and star aniseed (Illicium verum) for sale at a market, Xizhou, Yunnan Province. Lentil and peanut are described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This man in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, makes popcorn the old-fashioned way, using a kind of ‘pressure cooker’, driven by kerosine. When the popcorn is done, the machine make a loud pop, producing a dense cloud of smoke. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Woman, weighing green chilli peppers (Capsicum) at a roadside market, east of Shidzong, Yunnan Province. This species is described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Street vendor, selling a rose-flavoured drink in the village Qing Yen (‘Green Rock’), near Guiyang, Guizhou Province. His pot consists of metal sheets, welded together. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Comoro Islands

Costa Rica

Denmark

Egypt

Ethiopia

Some of my adventures in this interesting country are related on the page Travel episodes – Ethiopia 1996: Timkat – a Christian festival.

France

Greece

Guatemala

Markets in Guatemala are a blaze of colours. Almost all women wear a colourful blouse, called a huipil, consisting of several layers of cloth, sown together into intricate patterns. Every village in Guatemala has its own distinct huipil colours and patterns, and almost every woman weaves the cloth for her huipil herself.

My adventures in this interesting country are related on the page Travel episodes – Guatemala 1998: Country of the Mayans.

Bagels for sale, Todos Santos. The man is wearing the typical red-and-white-striped trousers of this town. A bagel is a type of bread roll, which originated in the Jewish communities of Poland. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

India

This street vendor in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, is selling jujube fruits (Ziziphus mauritiana), rice cakes, and various dried fruits and leaves. Jujube is described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Street vendors, selling blocks of wood to decorate hands and arms with henna (Lawsonia inermis), Tirumalai, Andhra Pradesh. Pictures, depicting this practice, are shown on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Fruit and vegetable vendors, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. This city is described in depth on the page Travel episodes – India 1986: “Sir, would you like to see this peacock?” (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Every year in November, thousands of Hindu pilgrims undertake a pilgrimage to the Gandak River at Sonpur, Bihar. In connection with this festival, a huge market, or mela, takes place, in which various livestock are displayed for sale.

Holi is a Hindu spring festival, celebrating the god Krishna, and the victory of good over evil – a gay festival, in which people, regardless of caste, pelt each other with red, yellow, purple, or green powder, or with water, dyed with powder. For this reason, Holi has been dubbed The Festival of Colours.

My own ‘colourful’ adventures during Holi are related on the page Travel episodes – India 1991: Attending Hindu festivals in Rajasthan.

During Holi, this man in Jodhpur is selling papayas (Carica papaya), mandarins (Citrus reticulata), and chiku (Manilkara zapota), all described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This street vendor in Kolkata is selling wooden rolling pins, which are mostly used for shaping and flattening chapatis (wheat pancakes) and puri (wheat batter, which is deep-fried, hereby popping up). Such rolling pins are thickest in the middle, tapering at both ends. While rolling, you hold your hands flat towards the ends of the pin, as they are also moving. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Street vendor in Delhi, selling betel, in India called paan, a mild intoxicant, consisting of a leaf from the betel bush (Piper betle), which is wrapped around bits of nuts from the areca palm (Areca catechu), and, according to your taste, tobacco or spices, taken with a small amount of lime. His stand is decorated with a garland of marigolds. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This vendor is paddling his boat, laden with goods, to houseboats on Lake Nagin, Kashmir. The usage of houseboats is described on the page Culture: Boats and ships. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This man, photographed during two different visits to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, is selling coconuts and garlands of marigold flowers, to be used as offerings for the sacred Ganges River, and clay pots to scoop up the precious water from the river. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Woman, selling sapota fruits (Manilkara zapota), lime (Citrus aurantiifolia), and a kind of pea, Karwar, Karnataka. Sapota and lime are described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Dyed powders for sale in a bazaar, Haridwar, Uttarakhand (top), and in Sonpur, Bihar. They are used as tika marks on the forehead of women, and as offerings to Hindu gods. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

This shop owner has stacked sacks with several types of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) seeds in the street outside his shop, Bundi, Rajasthan. Okra is described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Gadaba tribal women, selling peas (Lathyrus oleraceus) at a market in Tanginiguda, Odisha (Orissa). The garden pea is described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Every year, so-called camel fairs take place at various places in the Indian state Rajasthan, in which dromedaries and other livestock are displayed for sale. The dromedary is described on the page Animals – Animals in culture and religion: Camelidae.

Brightly coloured shawls for sale in the bazaar, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (top), and Haridwar, Uttarakhand. While you wait for customers, you might as well read your newspaper. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

At this market in Valparai, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, people are selling flower garlands, called malla, made from marigolds (Tagetes) and other flowers. They are presented as offerings by pilgrims in Hindu temples. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

During the annual animal fair in Sonpur, Bihar, these vendors of traditional medicine are using a cobra (Naja naja) and a rat snake (Ptyas mucosus) to attract people. One of the ingredients displayed is skins of the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), which is highly threatened due to over-collecting. (Photos copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

White rabbits, ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri), and plum-headed parakeets (P. cyanocephala) for sale behind Lal Qila (Red Fort), Old Delhi. The parrots are described on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the Indian Subcontinent. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Indonesia

Various fruits for sale, including mangos, dragonfruits or pitahaya (Hylocereus), oranges, apples, and pears, Ubud, Bali. All are described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

The nut of the areca palm, or betel palm (Areca catechu), is an ingredient in betel, a mild intoxicant, consisting of a leaf from the betel bush (Piper betle), which is wrapped around bits of areca nut and, according to your taste, tobacco or spices, taken with a small amount of lime. Chewing this mixture increases your spit production, and your saliva turns brick-red. Blotches of betel spit are ubiquitous in many Asian countries – on streets, house walls, stairs, and elsewhere.

This woman at a market in Kintamani, Bali, is selling green betel nuts and lime fruits (Citrus x aurantiifolia), both described on the page Plants: Cultivated fruits. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Lacquered hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), green turtles (Chelonia mydas), and sea shells for sale, Yogyakarta, Java. This is highly illegal, as the turtles are protected, but the law is rarely enforced. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Ireland

Kenya

Kyrgyzstan

Malawi

Malaysia

Myanmar

Nepal

The large village Namche Bazaar in Khumbu, eastern Nepal, is predominantly inhabited by Sherpas, a Tibetan people, which migrated here more than 500 years ago. Since time immemorial, extensive trading has taken place between Sherpas and Tibetans, the latter bringing salt and yak hides over the high mountain passes, which separate the two countries. These articles were traded for cereals, tea, and sugar. This trade was interrupted, when the Chinese invaded Tibet in the 1950s, but these days they have slackened the restrictions a bit, and the trade has been taken up again on a smaller scale. Every Saturday, a market is held in Namche.

Pakistan

Indian silverbills (Euodice malabarica) for sale at a bird market, Karachi. Some of them have been dyed, presumably to make them more attractive. This bird is described on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in Taiwan. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Philippines

Some of my adventures in this interesting country are related on the page Travel episodes – Philippines 1984: Shamanism among Ifugao tribals.

Portugal

South Africa

Sri Lanka

The Fernando family, buying vegetables from a street vendor, Diggala, near Panadura. My stay with this sympathetic family is described on the page Travel episodes – Sri Lanka 1976: Among alcohol brewers. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)

Syria

Taiwan

Thailand

The term floating market describes a market, where people sell vegetables, fruits, ready-made meals, and numerous other items from boats, which they paddle around. In the pictures below, from the town of Damnoensaduak, near Bangkok, meals and snacks are sold, besides fruits like pineapples, grapes, rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum), mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), pomelo (Citrus maxima), lime (Citrus aurantiifolia), and longan, or dragon-eye fruit (Dimocarpus longan).

Tibet

Rugs, the pelt of a fox, and a leopard skin for sale at a market, Lhasa. The leopard is protected by law in China, but when this picture was taken in 1987, the authorities didn’t enforce the law. (Photo copyright © by Kaj Halberg)