Rambling around Amritsar’s Market

I spent the last few days of my trip to India visiting Amritsar, in the country’s northwest corner, near Pakistan.  The main reason for going was to visit the famous Golden Temple, which I need to write about soon.

My hotel was not far from the temple so on two occasions I walked there by working my way through different streets and lanes.  There is a market in the area, although it was not as well defined as many that I’ve seen.  Still, it was busy.  As with all of India, the streets were bustling with activity and a lot of shopping and selling of all types of good was transpiring.

The most popular form of transport I saw were the bicycle rickshaw taxis.  Often these were quite crowded, and the poor driver had to work hard to move along, like the fellow below, pushing along 6 people (including himself)….

I saw only a single horse cart and couldn’t resist getting a photo of it.

Turbans are very common in Amritsar, and I liked seeing them.  I think they add a lot of character to the man’s appearance.

Fresh food was for sale from many vendors, and I like taking photos of produce because of its nice colors, and because I enjoy buying and eating it.  The oranges were delicious (always peel your fruit — washing isn’t enough in India as the water has pathogenic bacteria).

The guy below would cut the top off a coconut with a machette, and hand you the juice filled shell with a straw.  A healthy and refreshing drink.  I did have one of these.

This chap below made sugar cane juice.  I’ve never tried the stuff mostly because the process doesn’t seem very hygienic.  There were flies everywhere.

Colorful textiles seemed very popular, and many shops were selling them.  You just can’t beat the colors of India’s clothes.

This gentle made a modest living shining shoes.  He did a good job, too.

Almost every kind of product you could imagine was for sale, including car tires and auto parts.

These were huge slabs of sandstone, the kind used in building the Red Fort in Delhi.

Several people were pushing huge carts of bundled material.  Probably textiles, but I’m not really sure what it was….

Fast food Indian-style was available ….

I suspect not a penny of this income is declared for income tax purposes, so India’s economy is booming a lot more than one might be led to believe.  In any event, I enjoy markets and this one was fun to wander through.