select - bustling street markets (Part 3)
Written by Brian Johnston
The world’s cities have plenty of must-see museums and tourist sites, but head to street markets instead and you’re in for a treat: a grand spectacle of daily life, where locals go about their business and visitors might just unearth a hidden treasure.
Seoul
Namdaemun is one of Seoul’s most important shopping districts, and between consumers and wholesalers keeps going 24 hours. The streets are lined with shops and stalls, while more stalls are jammed into a huge three-storey building sagging under the weight of household goods, sportswear, leather, sunglasses, silk, and textiles sold by the metre off giant rolls. This is one big treasure trove of Korean enterprise, and a nirvana for those devoted to bargains, though you have to beware of fakes. Korean soap operas patter from the TVs of hundreds of vendors, and young kids hunker under stalls and slurp up bowls of instant noodles. Push your way through bursting sackloads of underwear, clamber over teetering piles of shirts, and duck your way through hanging handbags and hosiery: this is a hands-on shopping experience.
WHY
Lively, fun, and distinctively Korean, this market is part of what makes Seoul such a great place to shop.
WHERE
Namdaemun is reached on Line 4 of the subway; get off at Hoehyeon station.
HOW TO GET THERE
Qatar Airways has daily flights from Doha to Seoul.
Hong Kong
Serious aficionados of street markets should head to Hong Kong’s Kowloon district, which seems to have a different market on every other corner, some specialising in the likes of songbirds, jade, or flowers. Famous Temple Street Market gets into its stride in the early evening and continues late into the night. Clothes are the chief focus here, as well as watches, electrical goods, CDs, and household items. If you’ve bought too much, you can even pick up an inexpensive extra suitcase to haul away your goodies. Shopping apart, a visit to Temple Street is still worth it for its sheer energy and bustle. Vendors compete under strings of light bulbs, Cantonese pop wails from portable stereos, fortune-tellers read palms, and an occasional traditional opera singer might be warbling away down a side alley.
WHY
Hong Kong’s best-known street market reflects all the inventiveness, comfortable chaos, and business acumen of the trading city.
WHERE
Temple Street is on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong; take the MTR to Jordan station.
HOW TO GET THERE
Qatar Airways has daily flights from Doha to Hong Kong.
Mumbai
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai, commonly known as Crawford Market, is one of the most famous of Mumbai’s 70-odd street markets. Chiefly a colourful fresh-food market, it also sells cosmetics, household and gift items, and even pets. There’s an unnerving meat section that might convert you to vegetarianism; but don’t miss the spectacle of salting and drying Bombay duck (actually a kind of fish).
WHY
Hustle and bustle in a colourful street market running here since 1869, and showing no signs of slowing down.
WHERE
North of Victoria Terminal train station along MG Road in South Mumbai, best reached by taxi or rickshaw.
HOW TO GET THERE
Qatar Airways flies from Doha to Mumbai daily.
