After an exhausting first week in yoga training, I was looking forward to doing something fun. I and couple of my new pals decided to go to the Arpora Saturday Night Market. We had no idea what to expect but had heard it was a feast for the eye.
We rented a taxi which took us there in 45 mins. My friend, Elda from South Korea, screamed couple of times and startled the driver because she was not used to the way cars drive in India and grazing past the cows on the street.
Since, my new friends, who are from Netherlands, Belgium & South Korea, had never been to a Hindu temple, we stopped at a Shiva temple near the market. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, so can’t share that experience. All I can say is that it was peaceful and calm inside the temple while outside it was chaos. That’s one of the reasons, I love going to churches in any big city. How much crazy the world is outside, the moment I step into the church, my mind becomes calmer. It’s a perfect place to easily get into a meditative state.
It was nearly 7pm and we were super hungry but none of us wanted the Indian meal. We stopped at couple of restaurants to check their menu, until we finally settled on an Indian Fusion Seafood restaurant.
After we had a scrumptious meal, we made our way to the market, making sure we didn’t get run over by the cars. One of the huge problem in India is that there are lack of sidewalks, you have no option but to walk on the streets with ongoing traffic. My friend accidentally stepped on a dead rat and we all couldn’t stop laughing.
Surprisingly, the market was very well organized into aisles of vendor booth and we were lucky that it was not too crowded. There were so many beautiful items along with some crappy stuff here and there. Exquisite saris, summer dresses, shawls, carpets, spices, handmade puppets, mirror work bags, jewelry, meditation sound bowls, …. Also, it was very interesting to see lot of European hippies having booths to sell their handmade items from clothing, jewelry to unique items.
I taught my friends the art of bargaining in India. Oh boy, we did end up getting some good deals and by the end of the day all of them had become bargaining pros. Nikki ending up buying the green sari, just because it was too beautiful to pass and the woman selling was a doll. She has no clue where she can even wear it when she is back in Netherlands. Aureille bought items for her meditation room, such as the Ganesha statue and Tibetan singing bowl.
I, on the other hand came back empty handed. Since I’m traveling a lot this year, I have decided to buy just one item from each city I visit to and it has to really speak to me. So far nothing has called my name at the market. May be next weekend I’ll get lucky.
