A Walk Through The Famous Mapusa Market, Goa
A walk through any local bazaar is like walking through the heart of local life. We love visiting local markets in Mumbai and during travels to immerse ourselves in the colorful sights and sounds and becoming a part of bustling market activities. As our fantastic road trip to Divar Island edged towards goodbyes, we decided to visit one of the most famous markets of Goa - Mapusa Market to spruce up the finale.
Located around Mapusa municipal market area, this market is at its best every Friday but other days are good to visit too. Take a walk around this bustling bazaar and absorb some local flavors at an unhurried pace...that is if you can be a true crowd ninja!! Indulge in some mild jostling, try your hand at bargaining or just wander around, Mapusa market shall not disappoint. This market that attracts locals shopping for their daily needs as well as tourists hunting unique bargains, winds up at dusk, so wear some comfortable walking shows and indulge in our favorite pass time - bargain hunting!!!
Pro Tip: The market starts early around 9 am. An early start helps you cover the innumerable market by-lanes and helps avoid the harsh afternoons.
Located around Mapusa municipal market area, this market is at its best every Friday but other days are good to visit too. Take a walk around this bustling bazaar and absorb some local flavors at an unhurried pace...that is if you can be a true crowd ninja!! Indulge in some mild jostling, try your hand at bargaining or just wander around, Mapusa market shall not disappoint. This market that attracts locals shopping for their daily needs as well as tourists hunting unique bargains, winds up at dusk, so wear some comfortable walking shows and indulge in our favorite pass time - bargain hunting!!!
Pro Tip: The market starts early around 9 am. An early start helps you cover the innumerable market by-lanes and helps avoid the harsh afternoons.
From dried fish, local produce - grains, vegetables and fruits, hand crafted pillow covers, chunky jewellery pieces, beautiful pottery, antiques, spices, sausages, Goan pickles, coir items and some more....the list of items one can shop here is endless. We parked our car at the municipal parking lot and started our colorful journey to unearth unique finds. The vendors speak local language and English as well, which helps in easy conversations.
We stumbled upon a vendor selling local seedless tamarind and kokum (a plant from mangosteen family). Reasonably priced, we picked up some Kokum to make cooling sherbet during summers.
Next, though the dried fish looked delicious, it was ruled out as we still had to travel some distance back home.
Colorful handmade lanterns, covered in glossy papers made a pretty sight but looked fragile to be put on the back seat during our journey back home. And how could I forget!! I was still handling the two strawberry saplings picked from Wai before arriving at Divar Island.
We passed vendors selling local red rice, pickles, coins, baskets, lights and much more on the way. A few vendors from Rajasthan were selling hand embroidered bags, wallets and cloth items.
Having heard a lot about the local pottery items, we decided to spend some time looking over the section located behind the vegetable market. The items are beautiful and attract your best bargaining skills. Beautiful figurines, flower pots, clay cookware, water pots, souvenirs, lamps and more items made artistically with clay stood as silent witness to a diminishing art form. We picked up many items, a favorite being the indo-portuguese style water pot that sits proudly in my kitchen.
Our last stop was a toothless vendor selling Himalayan pink salt with an infectious smile. We bought a good portion as he rattled off the health benefits of consuming the salt and we paid up without bargaining!!!
We decided to end our shopping escapade and relish some local delicacies like Bebinca and Dodol along with a chilled falooda to celebrate the trip. The falooda, priced at INR 20/- and served with a huge dollop of vanilla ice cream was just like the other bargains at Mapusa market - sweet!!!
We stumbled upon a vendor selling local seedless tamarind and kokum (a plant from mangosteen family). Reasonably priced, we picked up some Kokum to make cooling sherbet during summers.
Next, though the dried fish looked delicious, it was ruled out as we still had to travel some distance back home.
Colorful handmade lanterns, covered in glossy papers made a pretty sight but looked fragile to be put on the back seat during our journey back home. And how could I forget!! I was still handling the two strawberry saplings picked from Wai before arriving at Divar Island.
We passed vendors selling local red rice, pickles, coins, baskets, lights and much more on the way. A few vendors from Rajasthan were selling hand embroidered bags, wallets and cloth items.
Having heard a lot about the local pottery items, we decided to spend some time looking over the section located behind the vegetable market. The items are beautiful and attract your best bargaining skills. Beautiful figurines, flower pots, clay cookware, water pots, souvenirs, lamps and more items made artistically with clay stood as silent witness to a diminishing art form. We picked up many items, a favorite being the indo-portuguese style water pot that sits proudly in my kitchen.
Our last stop was a toothless vendor selling Himalayan pink salt with an infectious smile. We bought a good portion as he rattled off the health benefits of consuming the salt and we paid up without bargaining!!!
We decided to end our shopping escapade and relish some local delicacies like Bebinca and Dodol along with a chilled falooda to celebrate the trip. The falooda, priced at INR 20/- and served with a huge dollop of vanilla ice cream was just like the other bargains at Mapusa market - sweet!!!
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