Last weekend, the one must-see area that I didn't have a chance to visit is Colaba Market. It's a shopping street behind the Taj Mahal Hotel and is a great mix of small businesses, western retailers, and, of course, street vendors. Everything is directed to get my tourist dollar.
The afternoon that I had at the market was so much fun, hugely helped by two Australian women I met outside the Gateway to India. Last weekend, it was Independence Day weekend here and there were scads of people by the arches. It was much quieter yesterday so I took the oppotunity to see it up close. The vendors there see a white woman by herself and make a nuisance of themselves. One vendor selling post cards followed me for about a block and only fell back when I reached the security check point to get into the square in front of gateway. Once inside, more postcard sellers, people who will take your pictures, balloon sellers and map sellers. One man was showing me his maps and then wanted to know if I wanted to buy a "special" map and quickly opened it show a small bag of pot and then flicked open another map with a chunk of hashish. And yes, I did say no.
Without question, my favourite vendor that I've seen is the cotton candy seller. They walk around with small bags of the stuff on a long stick. I love the way it looks and the cotton candy is tasty. I couldn't resist buying a bag for 20 rupees (about 50 cents).
While I was there, I was approached by two women to take their picture. We got to talking and somehow we ended up shopping together. Both were really lovely. They had come to India to participate in a Salsa competition and were finishing up their trip by spending a few days in Mumbai, at the Taj Hotel.
We wandered through some of the back streets and then hit the main street. It is mayhem. Every vendor is trying to get you to look at their stuff and yet from seller to seller, they're all selling the same thing. The prices are fairly good. You do have to barter, but when you're being quoted the equivalent of 2 dollars for a necklace, it's hard to put much effort into the haggle. And unlike the pot, I did but the necklace. It's made of multi-coloured wooden beads. Very pretty.
For the better quality items, you need to go into the stores. But that is very much buyer beware. My new friends wanted to get an authentic Indian necklace so we wandered into one shop. We were brought into a back room and the man behind the counter pulled out necklace after necklace. We all ended up finding one we loved and then it is time to discuss price. It's considered rude to talk price before selecting. That makes it very hard, as I can invariably choose the most expensive thing. Rather than giving us a price, we were asked how much we were willing to pay. One woman said 5 Australian dollars (very, very low-ball) and I said 4000 rupees (about 125 bucks). After much talk about how we were like his sisters and that the price he's going to quote is the price he'd give family, out came the price--35 000 rupees!!!! This is about 780 dollars. Insanity. The necklaces were pretty, but the silver was tarnished and they weren't THAT amazing. We almost fell on our asses, we were so surpised. Absolutely not, we said and then had to listen to how these were investment pieces that we would love for the rest of our lives, blah, blah, blah. It wasn't until we just said, Look, we just don't have that kind of money, that we were allowed to leave.
Beside the shop, was a Mad about Donuts. It's a chain here and we decided to get over the sticker shock with coffee and a donut. The donut flavours were the same as we have, but some were more exotic. Most interesting were the savory one, like chili, but we weren't that adventurous. What we settled on was cinnamon, blueberry (that one was the best), a nutella filled, a white chocolate mocha, a mocha, and the equivalent of a boston cream. The donuts are eggless, for some reason, so the texture is a little heavier than my Tim Horton's donut. We were kind of "meh" on the donuts but the coffee was delicious. It took several bites of donut to get over our outrage on the necklaces. Even as I'm typing this, I'm still shaking my head. If we would have gotten a decent price, he would have made a sale. Jerk.
We proceed on and tried another store (called Amber) and this one was wonderful. Family run, the husband and wife were behind the counter and were chatty and very knowledgeable about what they sold. The steady stream of Indian shoppers who were also buying was a good indicator of the store's reputation. The ladies looked at necklaces, and I got sidetracked with bracelets and earrings. Again, not cheap, but a price that made sense. Like last week, once it was clear that we were there to shop, out came the tea. I do love that. We sipped our tea and browsed and browsed. Service in this country is exceptional. No request is too small and I've found I've had to get over the notion that as a shopper, my needs are a bit of a nuisance. You do not see 16 year olds yakking on their cell phones and ignoring you in the shops here.
We all found something. I bought a gorgeous marcasite bracelet. Marcasite is also known as "black diamonds" and the bracelet is so glittery, I can see why. We did mention the outrageous price from the other store and our new favourite shopkeeper just shook his head and said, "Crook".
We finished the day having high tea at the Taj. It really was serendipity that the three of us met. I had a truly fun afternoon at time where I am beginning to get a tiny twinge of homesickness.
More pictures of the market and the Sea Lounge at the Taj. I think I might enjoy one last tea there next weekend. I really enjoy the neighbourood it's in.
The afternoon that I had at the market was so much fun, hugely helped by two Australian women I met outside the Gateway to India. Last weekend, it was Independence Day weekend here and there were scads of people by the arches. It was much quieter yesterday so I took the oppotunity to see it up close. The vendors there see a white woman by herself and make a nuisance of themselves. One vendor selling post cards followed me for about a block and only fell back when I reached the security check point to get into the square in front of gateway. Once inside, more postcard sellers, people who will take your pictures, balloon sellers and map sellers. One man was showing me his maps and then wanted to know if I wanted to buy a "special" map and quickly opened it show a small bag of pot and then flicked open another map with a chunk of hashish. And yes, I did say no.
Without question, my favourite vendor that I've seen is the cotton candy seller. They walk around with small bags of the stuff on a long stick. I love the way it looks and the cotton candy is tasty. I couldn't resist buying a bag for 20 rupees (about 50 cents).While I was there, I was approached by two women to take their picture. We got to talking and somehow we ended up shopping together. Both were really lovely. They had come to India to participate in a Salsa competition and were finishing up their trip by spending a few days in Mumbai, at the Taj Hotel.
We wandered through some of the back streets and then hit the main street. It is mayhem. Every vendor is trying to get you to look at their stuff and yet from seller to seller, they're all selling the same thing. The prices are fairly good. You do have to barter, but when you're being quoted the equivalent of 2 dollars for a necklace, it's hard to put much effort into the haggle. And unlike the pot, I did but the necklace. It's made of multi-coloured wooden beads. Very pretty.
For the better quality items, you need to go into the stores. But that is very much buyer beware. My new friends wanted to get an authentic Indian necklace so we wandered into one shop. We were brought into a back room and the man behind the counter pulled out necklace after necklace. We all ended up finding one we loved and then it is time to discuss price. It's considered rude to talk price before selecting. That makes it very hard, as I can invariably choose the most expensive thing. Rather than giving us a price, we were asked how much we were willing to pay. One woman said 5 Australian dollars (very, very low-ball) and I said 4000 rupees (about 125 bucks). After much talk about how we were like his sisters and that the price he's going to quote is the price he'd give family, out came the price--35 000 rupees!!!! This is about 780 dollars. Insanity. The necklaces were pretty, but the silver was tarnished and they weren't THAT amazing. We almost fell on our asses, we were so surpised. Absolutely not, we said and then had to listen to how these were investment pieces that we would love for the rest of our lives, blah, blah, blah. It wasn't until we just said, Look, we just don't have that kind of money, that we were allowed to leave.
Beside the shop, was a Mad about Donuts. It's a chain here and we decided to get over the sticker shock with coffee and a donut. The donut flavours were the same as we have, but some were more exotic. Most interesting were the savory one, like chili, but we weren't that adventurous. What we settled on was cinnamon, blueberry (that one was the best), a nutella filled, a white chocolate mocha, a mocha, and the equivalent of a boston cream. The donuts are eggless, for some reason, so the texture is a little heavier than my Tim Horton's donut. We were kind of "meh" on the donuts but the coffee was delicious. It took several bites of donut to get over our outrage on the necklaces. Even as I'm typing this, I'm still shaking my head. If we would have gotten a decent price, he would have made a sale. Jerk.We proceed on and tried another store (called Amber) and this one was wonderful. Family run, the husband and wife were behind the counter and were chatty and very knowledgeable about what they sold. The steady stream of Indian shoppers who were also buying was a good indicator of the store's reputation. The ladies looked at necklaces, and I got sidetracked with bracelets and earrings. Again, not cheap, but a price that made sense. Like last week, once it was clear that we were there to shop, out came the tea. I do love that. We sipped our tea and browsed and browsed. Service in this country is exceptional. No request is too small and I've found I've had to get over the notion that as a shopper, my needs are a bit of a nuisance. You do not see 16 year olds yakking on their cell phones and ignoring you in the shops here.
We all found something. I bought a gorgeous marcasite bracelet. Marcasite is also known as "black diamonds" and the bracelet is so glittery, I can see why. We did mention the outrageous price from the other store and our new favourite shopkeeper just shook his head and said, "Crook".
We finished the day having high tea at the Taj. It really was serendipity that the three of us met. I had a truly fun afternoon at time where I am beginning to get a tiny twinge of homesickness.
More pictures of the market and the Sea Lounge at the Taj. I think I might enjoy one last tea there next weekend. I really enjoy the neighbourood it's in.
Sounds like you are having an amazing time! It is so much fun to follow along with you, "almost" like being there with you!
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