Anjuna Market

Mandrem was just what we were looking for--slow, sleepy, beachy, and walking distance to yoga classes. We had lucked out finding our very reasonably priced room and were loving the view. The sunsets were great and it felt heavenly falling asleep to the sound of the surf each night. Our days were slow but followed a schedule that ensured we both got in some much needed exercise and were able to plow through some beach reading.

As relaxing as our environment was I did find myself with a bit of cabin fever and told Catherine she should accompany me (by scooter) to check out the Anjuna market. The market takes place every Wednesday and is apparently a Goan institution—it’s been going on since the 60’s! Although a bit reluctant to brave the Indian roads on the back of a scooter she agreed to join my field trip. I found the newest scooter I could find in the village which just happened to be bright purple with a large logo on the front “Jesus Loves You.” Sold! For about $4 we had our own transportation and could meander our way south to the market.

It took about an hour to make the trip and I was surprised at how easy it was to find. As we pulled into Anjuna it quickly became apparent that this was no small event. It was the largest assembly of tourist taxis and scooters we had seen since arriving in Goa and everyone had come ready to shop. The market was huge with literally hundreds of stalls and stretched several hundred meters inland from the beach. It was a souvenir supermarket packed full of carvings, clothing, spices, and jewelry. We wandered through the maze of shops for about an hour and Catherine honed her negotiation skills over some new earrings. It was steaming hot and very crowded so we decided to retreat to shade and a cold beverage.

We rode back late in the afternoon dodging cows, trucks, potholes and other fun road obstacles. It was a good break, but we decided our slow life on the beach was perfectly sufficient for the remainder of our trip.