market tagged posts

In Africa, Sudan-Egypt 2011 On  05/12/2011  No comments

It’s difficult to start to understand a city as Cairo in a short visit of only a couple of days. However, if you let yourself walk around the streets, get a taxi or sit down to drink a tea at any small street shop you could get a glimpse of the soul of this chaotic, overwhelming and marvelous city. This is not a story of Cairo, we don’t try to make a minimally comprehensive description of the city. It’s only a short trip around the experiences, feelings and fears that Karla and myself have done on our two-day visit to Cairo.

Day 0

Arriving at an unknown airport in an unknown city at night is always a stressing experience. However in this case the new installations have probably a balsamic effect in our minds, especially if you went from Khartoum in Sudan (and more if you had there the opportunity to watch the “only men” passengers flying to Teheran). In any case when you arrives, you have to navigate a hoard of taxi drivers (and managers)...

In Africa, Sudan-Egypt 2011 On  02/12/2011  No comments

The following days in Khartoum we continued with Colab workshops and also could visit places on the city. We met Gama, a Sudanese friend of Hamasik and Felipe (from Brazil), for a coffee at Goethe Institute, his workplace. It is a very pleasant there; they have a beautiful yard where we drank the Ethiopian coffee recipe with scents and ginger. Later, Javier took us to see the place where the 2 Niles meet. It was late afternoon at a park, a mixture of green area with an amusement park, I just loved it.

By the end of the workshop, after we finished the work, Elamin invited us to a boat tour on the Nile. I sat on the stern of the boat and due to the strong sound of the engine I could not hear what people were talking, so, I got quiet observing the landscape. It is interesting to perceive the strength of the river, in a way, everything here is related to it. I imagined the legends and old stories that could exist on the places I was passing by...

In Asia, Thailand 2004 On  30/11/2004  No comments

We arrived in Chiang Mai during the Yi Peng Festival (also called Loy Kratong Festival). Before the trip I had read about the festival in the country, so we tried to schedule that in our itinerary. The festival is based on the lunar calendar; it is commemorated on the 12th full moon of the year.

The first day there we met a Thai family (Pracha, Jam e Gik) in the hotel. They took us for dinner and told us about their culture and the festival Together with them we bough “Krathong” (floating offerings made of flowers where in that top we put a candle and an incense). These are offerings to the mother water as an apology for polluting the waters. We put our offerings on the Ping River in front of the hotel and did same wishes. Another symbol of the festival are the hot air lanterns. Some say that when the lanterns go up they take with them our problems, bad luck, sins… Others say that they are an offering to the Buddha and the light represents illumination...

In America, Brazil, Nordeste 2003 On  17/11/2003  No comments

The first thing I did when I got to Fortaleza was walk around the handcraft fair in Meireles. It starts in the end of the afternoon and, with the movement in its tends and tourists, goes until late night. I went to see hammocks, t-shirts, dolls, cashew nuts, cachaças, sweets and handcraft. From there I walked to the Centro Dragão do Mar, a cultural building complex with cinemas, theater, concert house, bars and restaurants located in the center of the city. The place was crowed, it seems to be the best option for Saturday evening.

Sunday early morning I went for a walk to get to know the beaches. I started in Meireles, since it was early, there were not so much people. I talked to some street sellers who were putting up their tends. One of them came to me because he wanted me to photograph him, what I did. From Meireles I went, by the shore, to Iracema and downtown, where I was supposed to meet Marcelo (I had met him in Jericoacoara)...

In America, Bolivia 2001 On  02/08/2001  One comment

On my arrival in Sucre, I caught a taxi with more 3 people to know Tarabuco,  65km distant. Every Sunday this small town has a popular open market. It is crowded with tourists and people walking around and buying. We spend three hours in this town with a strong aboriginal influence. Then we came back to Sucre. I believe that Sucre is one of the richest cities from Bolivia. It was the place where I could see a bigger number of middle class people. It used to be the town where many Spaniard who explored the mines of Potosí lived.

One of the attractions of Sucre is to know the footprints of dinosaurs. These are in a cement factory. The first footprint was discovered 14 years ago, but they had only started to study and preserve the footprints 7 years ago. Tour is well organizing, they have a truck that takes the people to see the footprints in different parts. The guide explains the place very well and speaks an excellent English and Frenchman (a rarity around here).

Another attractive ...

In America, Peru 2001 On  17/06/2001  No comments

This time I decided to do a tour to the archeological sites in the Sacred Valley. The distances were longer and there were no buses straight to the sights. We left Cuzco already late, about 9:30am. In the way to Pisaq we stopped in a handcraft market in a small village. It was a very touristy, the typical place made for the “gringos” spend their money.

In Pisaq, every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday there is a open market. It is divided in two parts; one of handcraft, to the tourists; and the other of food, more towards the local people. We walked a little in the market and went to the archeological site.

The site is a few kilometers up the hill. It is surrounded by agricultural terraces, theses were used specially to cultivate corn. It was also used to the production of Chicha (typical drink with hallucinogen power drank in rituals). The terraces have a good irrigation system to be able to cultivate corn at high altitudes and cold...

In America, Ecuador 2001, Hiking/Trekking On  27/05/2001  One comment

In America, Ecuador 2001 On  28/04/2001  One comment

About 95 km away from Quito, Otavalo is one of the main open markets in Ecuador. It has been there for hundreds of years, even before the Spanish arrived. It is from the pre-Colombian period, when the indigenous people from the coast came to exchange merchandises with the Andean people. The best day to visit the market is on Saturday, when the biggest merchandises exchange happens. The streets get crowded with people and tents.

Nowadays the market is very popular among the tourists. There is a area of handcraft envisioned towards them. It is really big, I had never seen anything like this. Blocks and blocks full of tents selling bags, sweaters, bracelets, objects in wood, carpets, hats and anything else you could imagine. Everything is very colored and really well done. I wish I could take everything, the problem would be to carry it in the backpack for the next 4 months…
Something that caught my attention in the market was the beauty of the Ecuadorian indigenous women...