More on Tĩnh Gia Market

Rear entrance. The rear entrance to the Tĩnh Gia Market has no frippery, like that of the imposing arch at the front, and leads straight to the food stalls that serve daily needs Looking out the rear gate. Looking out through the rear gate of the market The low key entrance at the rear of the Tĩnh Gia Market is not even a gate to a building, but rather to a series of tarpaulin covered stalls - between which the rain pours in. Stalls at the rear of the market. Looking in through the rear gate Fish wives. Immediately inside the gate are a row of fish sellers Fish sellers. The area at the rear of the market, near the gate, is dedicated to fish. Here fishwives squat along the edge of the lane their husbands catches laid out on woven bamboo baskets. The ground is constantly turned to mud either by the rain or just from the water that is used to keep the fish fresh. Woman in red headscarf. Larger fish are often ready portioned Woman in traditional clothes. Banana leaves are ubiquitous Young woman. Vendors may attempt displays, although these are usually soon disrupted by customers' examinations of the catch Squ. Clams, fish and squid Prawns and cockles. Prawns and cockles Squid. These fish have the consistency of snot full of sharp bones - ugh North entrance. On the north side, motorbikes are parked at the entrances Ba Hai entrance. Ba Hai's beer emporium is strategically positioned on the corner of one entrance (where you might find me) Women with flowers. Flower sales are big business in Vietnam; the excuses are endless to give or present a bouquet Fruit. Fruit stalls Woman and fruit stall. Vegetable stalls... Stall and beer drinkers. ...more vegetable stalls... Woman selling vegetables. ...and yes the Vietnamese eat a lot of fresh vegetables! Women talking Vietnamese markets always seem to be as much about the social life as the commercial, maybe inevitably so, with the long periods of boredom between sales. Here the sale is of a special 'cake' - bánh chưng - made of steamed rice with meats and corns in the centre and tied up in banana leaves Woman selling eggs. Woman selling eggs, but westerners should be warned, some of the eggs are more expensive, these are fertilised and have chicks inside, through which the Vietnamese appreciatively crunch Selling poppadoms. These large, up to a half metre across, crisp-breads made of rice are similar in texture to poppadoms, but covered with sesame seeds. They are freshly heated by turning over a coal flame, preparatory to selling to customers Woman sitting. An unusual bit of space just here. Elsewhere stalls are tightly packed together Eating area. The central area of the food market is given over to cafes each with its own specialty and boundary wall Market entrance. Soft cooked rice to be eaten like a cake Street in Pho Bang. Want to try my meat? However, in the market her words might be a good deal cruder. The next page goes out on a small road from the town of Tĩnh Gia, where the market is situated, towards the
village of Thành Công.
Fields by the road. line
Saturday 4th February 2017 Murphy on duty
While travelling these pages are produced using a Microsoft system.
Colour consistency and quality is sadly much diminished until my return to my Mac.

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