Street/night markets in Asia
"Handsome man, I give you good price!"
An exchange of numbers on a calculator...
Local beer tank tops & t-shirts
Elephant pants
$8 "Nike" sneakers
Fruit-shaped carved soap
Skewered scorpions for your delectation...
I've visited these markets for years across SE Asia, Japan, and Hong Kong.
Love them or hate them, these markets tend to be significant attractions across SE Asia. I find them interesting, as contrary to common traveler belief, there are unique items to be found in them amongst the generic Chinese or Thai manufactures.
The most interesting find for me, bar none, was the matte-finish cutlery fashioned from recycled Vietnam War bombs/ordinance, available in Laos. If I owned a cafe, I'd probably buy out the lady's tent.
A relatively new arrival spotted in HK but also found in SE Asia are elaborate "pop-up" greeting cards with all sorts of designs - ships-of-the-line, sailing junks, rickshaws, dragons, the Eiffel tower, etc etc.
Selective textile pieces can be interesting as well - sarongs in Bali/Yangon, certain blouses/shirts in Chiang Mai (northern Thai style, very distinct from the usual t-shirts and elephant apparel).
Jewelry is a tough one - I'd never buy gold off the street (Chinatown, Bangkok is pretty awesome for that if you have the cash). Silver and gemstones though...trained buyers of the latter will visit the markets of Burma and Cambodia with briefcases of money behind them. I do buy a silver* item here and there if I get a decent price (spot .999 silver is only 50 US cents per gram, so few pieces will have more than a theoretical* US$15-18 of metal content - a ring might be $1). I typically try and pay $1 per gram weight, and many sellers have a gram scale. I carry a magnet to check for iron/steel (although it doesn't work for silver-plated copper or cupro-nickel items). *Silver/*theoretical - the odds of fraudulently marked sterling/925 silver are high. Thus, I don't buy unless it fits my number one rule for general market buying - Am I happy with the item itself at the price paid? This means....would you like this item even if the "locally made" shirt were trucked from China? If the silver were pot metal, etc etc?
I find the surveying and haggling process fun, even if I don't buy anything. Any particular favorite markets? Sunday in Chiang Mai was a favorite. Downtown Yangon and Siem Reap aren't bad. I wasn't a a huge fan of the markets in Ubud. Bangkok has so much it's overwhelming.
Submitted February 22, 2019 at 04:11AM by james_the_wanderer https://ift.tt/2GEg7Bd
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