Anjuna Market

So sometimes hiring a taxi is easier than waiting for a non-existent bus. It costs more but it has perks..like they will wait for you while you shop and take you to the next spot. The bus is almost never on time and sometimes doesn't show at all...hence I opted for the taxi and I got stp at the Anjuna Wednesday market... it was crazy and colorful. It spread out for miles and the tax driver parked in the middle and I told him I would be back in a couple of hours..the downside to having a car wait for you is that when you get utterly lost you can't just grab a different taxi...argh.

I got so utterly lost because many of the vendors sell the exact same thing. The small area is packed with walking peddlars and these little girls that clasp onto you and say " Madam, madam..please don't forget about me and my shop madam"..as they lead you into the depths of the market never to see the light of day.
I really wanted the singing bowls, and someday when I am not carrying all of m worldly belongings on my back I will be able to purchase whatever I want. But because that is not the case I passed on the singing bowls and did look at some of the jewelery. This is always a mistake...once you stop you are prey that has stopped moving and the hands come out and grasp you around wrists and arms and sometimes ankles. They have a mighty grip that is sometimes painful and just when you think your senses are going to overload, the man with painted cow and musical flute comes wander by followed by women and children begging for money.

I told the taxi driver two hours, this did not include haggling time, nor did it include be strapped down by four Indian women wrapping things around my wrists and ankles. And so my time at the Anjuna market came to an end rather quickly..I bought something from one of the vendors so that he would show me the way back to the taxi and I exited the streaming market overwhelmed and with a smile..only in India could buying a ring actually be a three ring circus...and I never did buy the ring :)