Wednesday morning we took a rickshaw to the infamous Tongi Market. Well we're not sure exactly if it is infamous but judging by the amount of people that were walking in the street in must be a popular shopping destination. This was our first time actually being in a 'big market' here in Bangladesh. Karen had suggest we venture to it... her only reasons why were simply "go for the experience". And what an experience it was.
It was only about a 30 minute rickshaw ride away, we took Noor the rickshaw driver who lives with his family in the main floor of the building and we convinced a second rickshaw driver to make the trip too, in order to accommodate the 4 of us. And by convince we mean Noor convinced him... he was not quick to jump on taking us to Tongi... and we discovered why when we entered the district. The roads... can you even call them that? Were what we consider small pathways at home, hundreds of transportation modes were making their way into the epicentre of the market. We sat in the usual rickshaw traffic jam very much enjoying our scenery though. We were in awe as our eyes took in the colors, our noses took in the smells (unfortunately) and our ears took in the honking and people bartering.
Noor and our new friend found a little street to park and we went adventuring. Being sure to only walk in squares and always return to the main road... we were not keen to get lost here. We started to walk down one street and quickly realized that this was no ordinary market... this was the Costco of Bangladesh! Entire city square blocks were devoted to selling bulk goods! We walked in the rice district, we walked in the spice district, the jean district, the veggie district, the animal feed sector, the kitchen tupperware block, the fabric district, the door handle/curtain rod/ anything else that is small and metal district. It was unbelievable! And then we came upon the Mecca of Betel.... betel in bulk. We didn't even know it was possible. Huge sacks of different betel nuts, gigantic baskets of betel pepper leaves, and hundreds, maybe thousands of tobacco tins ranging in every flavour possible. Everyone smiled and waved... it was red mouth galore. We felt we were just let in on a little secret... how all of those tiny shacks get all of their exotic ingredients to make up the packets of euphoria.
We decided to continue to maximize this experience and buy some spices from one of the merchants. The bags of bring orange turmeric, and deep red dried chiles were mesmerizing. We had never seen spices so beautifully arranged and whole, we were simply captivated. Our shop owner seemed skeptical of us at first... wonder why? But soon warmed up to us when he realized we were actually interested in purchasing something... or at least that's what we thought. Did we mention he spoke no English? It was a delight to try and figure out prices and quantity when we could use virtually no verbal communication. There was a lot of pointing, nodding, and "ooo-ing" and "ahh-ing". We ended up buying some coriander spice to eat after meals, cloves, and almonds. Who knows if we actually eat them, but it was every cent... total cost: $3. In our sales adventure we also ended up attracting about 30 men who were deeply intrigued by us as well. But that seems to be a regular occurrence. We're sure they were 'ooo-ing' and 'ahh-ing' right alongside us.
As we wandered about word seemed to get around that we were here... or that is how it seemed. Quick to join was a store owner who spoke quite good English. He was eager to show us around and help us in any way possible. A bit bizarre but we rolled with it, and what do you know... soon we found ourselves sitting in a shoebox store, ice cream bars and Bangladeshi sweets being forced upon us. Here you must try this ma'am! And this! And do you like this? And make sure you sit down... no really you MUST sit down.... now... here is the stool.... sit down please ma'am....please please please please sit down.... no that is not sitting that is standing.... sit now... bend your legs and sit here please ma'am! Did we mention that Bangladeshi's take persistence to a whole new level? Needless to say, we sat. We delightfully ate our ice cream bars... which we think were sent down by the gods... and then we ate our 'sweet', which were not sent down by the gods. Bangladeshi's loooove their sweets. We have had them more times than we wish....we may also be developing Type 2 Diabetes. To sum it up: take a doughnut type ball.... and soak it in sugar syrup for no less than 2 days... and bingo bango bongo.... you've got yourself dessert!
After thanking them profusely and trying our hardest to actually pay (which we were unsuccessful at) we made our way back to Noor and our new friend and trekked back home. Then after failing to find a few units of insulin.... we had a nap.
Until next time...
Ricki & Heidi
It was only about a 30 minute rickshaw ride away, we took Noor the rickshaw driver who lives with his family in the main floor of the building and we convinced a second rickshaw driver to make the trip too, in order to accommodate the 4 of us. And by convince we mean Noor convinced him... he was not quick to jump on taking us to Tongi... and we discovered why when we entered the district. The roads... can you even call them that? Were what we consider small pathways at home, hundreds of transportation modes were making their way into the epicentre of the market. We sat in the usual rickshaw traffic jam very much enjoying our scenery though. We were in awe as our eyes took in the colors, our noses took in the smells (unfortunately) and our ears took in the honking and people bartering.
Noor and our new friend found a little street to park and we went adventuring. Being sure to only walk in squares and always return to the main road... we were not keen to get lost here. We started to walk down one street and quickly realized that this was no ordinary market... this was the Costco of Bangladesh! Entire city square blocks were devoted to selling bulk goods! We walked in the rice district, we walked in the spice district, the jean district, the veggie district, the animal feed sector, the kitchen tupperware block, the fabric district, the door handle/curtain rod/ anything else that is small and metal district. It was unbelievable! And then we came upon the Mecca of Betel.... betel in bulk. We didn't even know it was possible. Huge sacks of different betel nuts, gigantic baskets of betel pepper leaves, and hundreds, maybe thousands of tobacco tins ranging in every flavour possible. Everyone smiled and waved... it was red mouth galore. We felt we were just let in on a little secret... how all of those tiny shacks get all of their exotic ingredients to make up the packets of euphoria.
We decided to continue to maximize this experience and buy some spices from one of the merchants. The bags of bring orange turmeric, and deep red dried chiles were mesmerizing. We had never seen spices so beautifully arranged and whole, we were simply captivated. Our shop owner seemed skeptical of us at first... wonder why? But soon warmed up to us when he realized we were actually interested in purchasing something... or at least that's what we thought. Did we mention he spoke no English? It was a delight to try and figure out prices and quantity when we could use virtually no verbal communication. There was a lot of pointing, nodding, and "ooo-ing" and "ahh-ing". We ended up buying some coriander spice to eat after meals, cloves, and almonds. Who knows if we actually eat them, but it was every cent... total cost: $3. In our sales adventure we also ended up attracting about 30 men who were deeply intrigued by us as well. But that seems to be a regular occurrence. We're sure they were 'ooo-ing' and 'ahh-ing' right alongside us.
As we wandered about word seemed to get around that we were here... or that is how it seemed. Quick to join was a store owner who spoke quite good English. He was eager to show us around and help us in any way possible. A bit bizarre but we rolled with it, and what do you know... soon we found ourselves sitting in a shoebox store, ice cream bars and Bangladeshi sweets being forced upon us. Here you must try this ma'am! And this! And do you like this? And make sure you sit down... no really you MUST sit down.... now... here is the stool.... sit down please ma'am....please please please please sit down.... no that is not sitting that is standing.... sit now... bend your legs and sit here please ma'am! Did we mention that Bangladeshi's take persistence to a whole new level? Needless to say, we sat. We delightfully ate our ice cream bars... which we think were sent down by the gods... and then we ate our 'sweet', which were not sent down by the gods. Bangladeshi's loooove their sweets. We have had them more times than we wish....we may also be developing Type 2 Diabetes. To sum it up: take a doughnut type ball.... and soak it in sugar syrup for no less than 2 days... and bingo bango bongo.... you've got yourself dessert!
After thanking them profusely and trying our hardest to actually pay (which we were unsuccessful at) we made our way back to Noor and our new friend and trekked back home. Then after failing to find a few units of insulin.... we had a nap.
Until next time...
Ricki & Heidi
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