This time around I happened to be in Goa around a weekend, with an equally enthusiastic (read shopaholic) friend. So, we decided to hit the infamous Arpora flea market.
This market was very near to calangute beach, on the calangute-anjuna road. It has a very good expanse and numerous stalls selling all different kind of products that would attract tourist attention, particularly foreign tourists wherein they would be looking for souvenirs or famous products from India to take back home. But apart from the buzzing shops, there was more to the market - something for even the non-shopaholics . There were artists and musicians, playing live and numerous people applauding. The environment was so charged up...my toddler couldn't help swing to the beats as we stopped by :) Then came the food stalls - again a number of them well organized in one section of the flea market offering everything from goan delicacies , to south indian delights to Italian pizzas and other subcontinental mouth watering food.
The market starts from 6:30 in the evening and goes on well into the night. The stalls are up and running till 3 or 4 am in the morning. But you must have a good bargaining skill to get a good deal here. However, what would be the definition of a "good deal" when there's no end to bargaining. Well, in my opinion, once you form a price of the product in your mind looking at its worth and you are able to get it into that price range - you can happily call it a great deal. So we did. Just to give you an idea, we liked a bag. The price quoted by the shopkeeper was INR 550 , we quoted INR 250 and finally the deal was done at INR 300 :)
Overall, I would say the market is a must visit at least once when you are in Goa. The whole street market shopping, including the bargaining, the food, the performances...everything there was an enticing experience.
Here's a glimpse of the colorful pictures you can see when you search for arpora flea market, to give you an idea of the vibrancy and liveliness of the atmosphere there :
Items that were on sale in the Arpora flea market:
- Small wooden furnitures
- Different kind of souvenirs - key chains, show pieces (wooden/shell/marble/metal), wall hangings
- Jewelry (shell, stones, oxidized silver, wood, metal)
- Woolen/Silk/Cotton stoles
- T-shirts, beachwear and other garments suitable to Goan climate
- Goan spices and dry fruits
- Bags, purses, backpacks (leather, cotton, jute, synthetic leather)
- Paintings
- Flipflops and other foot wear
- And many other things...please add if I am missing anything major
Useful links to get more information about the flea market:
Awesome!
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