I was lucky enough to visit Goa & Mumbai for a few weeks in November, I loved my whole time in India, it is a country full of energy, colour & smiling faces, it's also a hippy, haggler's shopping paradise.
I came to find that I was actually quite good at the haggling bit, which was an equally good and bad thing - more successful haggling = more clothes, trinkets & incense (I must now have a never ending supply).. a huge bag now had to be found to bring home all my jingly jangly, spicy scented Indian treasures.
Our first stop was Anjuna day market in Goa, once we got through the lane of endless mopeds & tuk tuks we were thrown into the market madness.
You can buy anything and everything at Anjuna Market, beautiful embellished throws and saris, crystal wands, elephant chimes, flavoured tea, spices by the gram (although I did bring back some Saffron & was told it was 'fake'!?), drums, mirrored umbrellas, aztec styled rucksacks & hats, sequined pens, ayurvedic medicines, leather belts, gypsy shoes, silver rings & anklets, patterned silk kaftans, any flavoured incense you can think of, statues of buddhas, Ganesha's, elephants & monkeys, beautiful turquoise plates & jewelry boxes, kaleidoscopes, sunglasses, beaded cushion covers........ Being surrounded by such beautiful things, it's hard not to get sucked into buying it all & my friend & I pretty much did. I bought a gorgeous, floor length purple patterned kaftan for 100 rupees, about £1.50, a red & pink mirrored umbrella (for the fancy dress box!), a drum.. a bit of an impulse buy.. that's in the fancy dress box along with the umbrella, a huge dark pink embellished throw which was going to be made into a curtain but have used it as a bed throw, tons of rose & lavendar incense, an amethyst & moonstone crystal, a wooden incense box covered in gold stars and moons, tons of coloured bangles & bracelets, some mango tea, loads of Indian spices & a Karma Sutra book (it'd be rude not to buy one in India?).
The longest haggling session was spent with an Indian couple selling beaded cushion covers, I think I was there or about half an hour.. so they started with a a price which they know no one will pay for the cushions, 900 rupees, about £10, then I say a silly low price that I know they wouldn't accept of about 200 rupees, £2.. then it continues.. I finally got 3 lovely covers for about 400 rupees - bargain :) Sometimes the haggling doesn't work, as I found with a navy pillow & cover set with gorgeous gold detailing that I wanted, when you walk away usually the stall holders chase after you clutching the items that you've reluctantly left behind.. but it didn't happen that time, they called my bluff :(
Just before we left I was given a little elephant with a bell hanging as a gift from one of the market stall holders, it was so lovely.. being in India you come to realise that often an acts of kindness are not for free.. Hannah later told me that the man had no arm, I didn't even notice!
We next headed down to Palolem in the South of Goa, the streets leading to the beach are lined with shops and stalls, you can buy tiger balm in lovely little pots for 40p and packs of incense for about 20p, so I stocked up on these! My favourite shop in Palolem was one selling silver jewelry, meditation bowls & crystals, the owner was so lovely and I spent about an hour in there listening to him tell me about all the crystals and their different properties, he also showed me all the different sizes and sounds of the meditation bowls also known as Tibetan singing bowls and the benefits of using them. Oh & he also made me lie on the floor so he could 'check my chakra's' with the bowl apparently all 7 of mine are open.. but I need to learn more about that! I bought a medium sized bowl home :)
The final market stop before before flying home was the Colaba Causeway Market in Mumbai, the market is all day and most the night as the area is quite touristy, the market sold pretty much the same as the market in Anjuna, but more antiques like clocks, compasses, telescopes, bells & lanterns. My favourite stall was one selling hundreds upon hundreds of bangles, I was mesmerised.. even now I still wish I had brought more home. From the Colaba Causeway market I bought lots of bracelets and some beautiful bindis.. it's harder to haggle in Mumbai than in Goa!
Karnataka is a state in South Western India, you can tell a Karnataka woman straight away by the way she is dressed and the things she is selling & making. They are covered in multicoloured patchwork, rounded mirrors & often lots of piercings. Whilst walking through Palolem I met two ladies on a stall from Karnataka, this is where I discovered their unique style in dress and craftwork - I loved everything as it was all so vibrant and patterned. Whilst I spoke to them, one of the ladies sewed a handle and a closure to a bag I liked and gave me a friendship bracelet as a 'Happy Diwali' gift..
So my friend & housemate Hannah & I returned home with all of our Indian delights.. they are now scattered all around our incense smoked flat. India is such a beautiful country filled with rainbow colours, sunshine, smiles and the best hippy buys ever. I can't wait to go back and do some more exploring, learning & shopping!
Karnataka Women
Karnataka styled bag filled up to the brim!
