After finally getting over jetlag, I ventured out today to my first bazaar. I cut my teeth on Dilli Haat, a market which is unique because it's run by the state of India and each of the vendors is rotated out every fifteen days. You pay a small fee to enter, there are fewer touts, and every region of India is represented by food tents, textiles, handcrafts, jewelry, and anything else you can think of.
At an Indian bazaar, the object is to haggle. The merchants are shocked, almost a little insulted, if you're silly enough to accept the first price you're quoted. By the end of the day, I realized I would quickly have to get over the buzz of so many shawls on sale for so little. By Indian standards, it wasn't an inexpensive excursion at all! If you count up the total in dollars, on the other hand, I make out like a bandit, and had a delicious lunch as well.
Best of all, I got to meet this fine gentleman, representing the deserts of Rajasthan. Well worth the basheesh.
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