Flea market

I’m in love! My only regret is that I didn’t figure this out much sooner (and that XDirtPushr is going to have a fit when he sees what I just did to the bank account).

I wanted to go to at least one flea market here before I left, just to see what kinds of things people here considered junk. But there are no local regular weekly markets, so I’ve had a really hard time finding one (that not being able to read signs thing again). I finally gave up and asked the secretary, who came back about 30 minutes later with a stack of candidates, maps attached (have I mentioned that the secretary here is a marvel?).

I opted for an antiques market located on the grounds of a nearby temple. I was a little worried about finding it, but I needn’t have been. All I had to do is park where everyone else did and follow the stream of people leaving back to its source (I was apparently late this morning).

The market was a dream. Lots of little independent stalls selling everything from produce to textiles to tools to pottery to unidentifiable objects. Some stuff is dirt cheap, other stuff is actually quality and priced to match. People are laughing and yelling and arguing over prices while music is blaring from about 5 different sources. I have no idea what Buddha thought of all this spread out at his feet – after all, this is exactly the kind of market Jesus threw out of the temple in a fit. But since someone had left Buddha an offering of stuffed snoopy dolls, I’m guessing he’s a little more tolerant of such things.

I even found a couple of katana, but they wanted real money for those and I don’t know enough about them to know what I’m paying for. Anyway, let’s just say I had a fun time shopping until it got too hot and I couldn’t carry anything else in one hand (needed the other to eat my shaved ice).