Markets

Markets are often very colourful. A selection of pictures from markets around the world are shown on this page, arranged alphabetically according to country names.

In Asia, covered markets are often called bazaars, from Persian bazar, which 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.

Bazaars originated in Persia around 3000 B.C.

Afghanistan

Belgium

Brunei

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)

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

Women, selling vegetables beneath the Rajput fort Sonar Qila, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. This fort, and the city, are described 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.

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

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)

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.

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 as servants of Man: Camels.

Indonesia

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.

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

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

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)

Tunisia

Turkey

United States

Vietnam

Zaire

Zambia

(Uploaded November 2023)

Kaj Halberg - writer & photographer

Travels ‐ Landscapes ‐ Wildlife ‐ People

Markets