FLEA-STREET MARKETS, Goa

Its a great place to shop, you can buy anything here as long as you are prepared to haggle , sometimes long and hard! There is great food made by a lillt old Indian lady right in the middle, samosas, bhajis and such, so you can sit in the shade and have some lunch, This is a whole day out to enjoy, even our kids liked it!

What to buy: OK this Market has some great rugs/blankets, lots and lots of joss sticks, (2 yrs on and we still havent used ours all yet!)
you vcan buy spices and the best clothes! lots of tie dye stuff There are leather goods and a lot of jewellry too, just be prepared to haggle!.

What to pay: Absolutely anything, basically the rule is , get a price in your head what you think its worth/what you are prepared to pay, start much higher then work your way down.

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On Wednesdays there is the famous Anjuna Flea Market, also known as the hippie market. It all started by the hippies in the early 80s, when they used to gather at the same place in Anjuna while many needy foreigners used to sell their electronic items or barter other stuffs to the locals.
Thousands of people come from all over Goa to buy and sell at this market. Prepare for a very hot place on the daytime.

What to buy: Forget about the word "flea". This is the biggest market in Goa and you can buy almost everything here. A very good market and a very cheap place.

All across Goa, especially by the side of the beaches there are lots of flea-street markets where you can shop for just anything starting from T-shirts to earrings. Definitely worth buying and prices are pretty cheap.
The photo is from the street market near the Dona Paula beach

What to buy: Anything

What to pay: reasonable

All the markets and bazzars are the same, you cannot walk down the street without being spoken to. Come look, come buy, come see, please. It is really quite tiring because if you were to stop at them all. A. you would have no money left. B. you would have no time left. You have to be abrupt sometimes which is against the british way, but as I say there is no other way. When you do see something, they will tell you a ridiculous high price. All you have to do is come up with a ridiculous low one and argue till you are in agreement. If you want to bring childrens clothes with you for the many orphanages etc. Then buy your holiday gear from the stalls, everything is cheap enough not to make a hole in your budget.

What to buy: If you are looking for a special outfit, try a tailors. ie. mans suit around £50

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If you’re looking for a more authentic market experience than that found at Anjuna you could do worse than check out the market in the town of Ponda, which is aimed mainly at local customers. We didn’t buy a lot here apart from bananas and bottled water but enjoyed weaving our way past the stalls, smelling the fragrant spices (on some – not everything was so sweet-smelling!) and of course taking lots of photos. Shoppers and stall-holders were equally tolerant of our shutter-clicking although the narrow pathways between the stalls meant that we were sometimes rather in the way of serious shoppers.

You will find all sorts of fruit and vegetables here, the afore-mentioned spices, and also various handicrafts, although the latter tend towards the practical, such as coir ropes and mats, baskets and cooking vessels.

We stopped in Ponda en route to the Backwoods Camp (see accommodation tip) in order to buy bananas for the elephants. An alternative would be Mapusa’s Friday market, also relatively untouristy I believe. Marpusa is situated a little way inland, almost due east from Anjuna and can be reached by taxi from the beach resorts.

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Anjuna Market is held every Wednesday and is one of the main draws for tourists in northern Goa. It has its origins in the early days of Goa’s discovery by hippy back-packers in the 1960s, but these days is heavily commercialised and marketed by tour companies. Don’t let that put you off however, as it’s still a good place to pick up souvenirs and presents and is really colourful.

Stall-holders sell all kinds of crafts, including jewellery, carvings, fabrics and musical instruments (but if such things matter to you, be aware that most of these will not be local to Goa, as the sellers come from all over India). There are traditional sari fabrics and cheap Western-style clothing, some of the items designer rip-offs, others basic t-shirts etc. There are also plenty of places to eat or grab a cold drink, and when you’ve finished shopping you can wander down to the beach to examine your purchases and watch the sun set over a cold beer.

What to buy: We bought some pretty note-books of hand-made paper as gifts for family, a bangle for me and a t-shirt for Chris. I don’t remember any prices but I know everything was very reasonable and haggling expected.

There are just so many street vendors outside every beach selling waht we indians call 'junk jewelry' -largely jewelry crafted in white metal and plastic beads. You can pick a handful for even as less as Rs 100. Bargain away to glory and take home some of these.

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This market is a must visit for anyone visiting Goa. A visit would not be complete without a stop at this market. Infact it should not be called a market. I should be called a fair or a mela.
It has everything. Drinks, dance, Food, fortune tellers, tattoo artists and did i mention its a bazzar with shops too. Truly speaking Its difficult to explain it in words. You have to visit it, experience it to know how it is, What it is!!

The vendors are a mix of indian and foreigners. Selling everything from food to junk jewelery to handicrafts, antique stuff, leather stuff to clothes etc etc etc.
The market starts at 6 PM but the hustle and bustle begins around 7-8 Pm and goes on well into the night till 1-2AM.
Remember to get a good rest, a nice long sleep, have a early lunch or I would suggest to skip lunch cause if you are not hungry you would regret why you came to the market after eating. Theres loads and loads of cuisine to choose from.

After visiting this and the Anjuna Wednesday Flee Market I felt that the night bazzar is better as it dosent really stress you out as much as the sun does when you visit the day market at Anjuna. Plus the Ingo Night Market is much more lively, lots to eat, drink, shop etc. The stuff on sale is exactly the same at both the markets. So the Anjuna Wednesday Flee Market is a NO NO for me next time and can certainly be given a slip.

WIKIMAPIA LINK (cut and paste in address bar)

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=15.577445&lon=73.762556&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2

What to buy: anything and everything.

But remember to NEVER GIVE THE ASKING PRICE ALWAYS BARGAIN