Market days in Bhairahawa, Nepal

Nothin' like some good old bloody fish to whet the appetite!

Fresh fish (from where???)

Fresh vegetables of every form, color and taste can be found at the market

Spices vendors line the streets of the market...

Spices, spices, and more spices....

Coriandor and woven plate vendor

Hot chillies of every shape and form can be found at the market.

The biggest challenge at market day is deciding which of the vendors will have the tastiest and cheapest food (without giving you the trots!)

The market is the cheapest and tastiest place to eat. For $1-$2 you can fill up from the streetside food vendors

Buses decorated to the hilt are loaded to the hilt with produce headed to and from the twice-weekly market

Market day occurs twice each week -- on Sunday and Thursday -- in Bhairahawa. Vendors invade a large section of town to sell goods of all shapes, sizes, tastes, and colors. You can buy almost anything there from bras and panties to pots and pans to fresh bloody fish to colorful sari fabrics to fragrant spices to fresh vegetables to shoes, shirts, pants, socks and washcloths. The vendors line both sides of the streets and masses of humanity squeeze through the narrow dusty space in between.

But even with all the material competition, white faces are still a fascinating sideshow to the vendors and customers crowding the market. We are also an opportunity to double or triple or quadruple the prices being asked for the various goods. Haggling is essential if we are to even COME CLOSE to what locals pay for anything!

But the market is a must-see for anyone visiting Bhairahawa (as is the mosaic workshop!)