Bazaar Bonanza

BY ONEIKA RAYMOND


The icky weather in Istanbul provided the perfect opportunity of exploring the markets, known as bazaars here. I love these things, even though I tend never to buy anything. I found these bazaars pretty similar in style and offerings to the ones I have frequented in Morocco.

On our first day in Istanbul, Liebling and I checked out the Arasta Bazaar, located in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul. This is a small outdoor market. It was pretty empty in terms of traffic. I’m not too sure if that’s due to the time of day that we went (early afternoon) or the fact that it’s not that popular (this market is probably passed over by tourists in favour of the famed Grand Bazaar market). Whatever the reason, I was glad that there weren’t a lot of people. Turkish music blared from loudspeakers.




On our last day, we let ourselves get lost in the Grand Bazaar. It is one of the “oldest and largest covered markets in the world”, according to Wikipedia, and it has “more than 58 covered streets and over 1,200 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily”! It is massive and was packed with people checking out the dizzying array of items on display.





On the same day we also checked out the Spice Market. This was my personal favourite. I loved the colours and the smells!




One thing that struck me about these bazaars was that despite the hustle-bustle, there was a relative calm. Shop owners wanted your business, but did not harass patrons. It was definitely a switch from being chased by shopkeepers in the markets I’ve been to in China and Morocco!

SHARING IS CARING

36 Comments

  • such rich vibrant colours, I definitely wanna go there. Glad your are feeing better

  • Oh it looks so beautiful. I wouldn't have been able to not buy anything LOL.

  • Wow, I wanta go shopping in that bazaar NOW!!! Who is the cute guy?

  • @kimvan: yes, the colours are fantastic!

    @flaming_star: haha, you need to make sure you go there with deep pockets and a full wallet then.. 🙂

    @GlobalB: LOL! the hottie is my loving boyfriend!

  • The colors are insane. A photography paradise FOR SURE!

  • Looks like you didn't go at peak tourist season. They do get rather crowded 🙂 Glad that you seemed to enjoy Turkey!!!!!

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