Following up on that blogpost about the main foodstuffs market of Aizawl, here are some more snaps – on vegetable markets elsewhere in the state. Like I said, these are nowhere as large as the one in the state capital. But they hew to a similar pattern.
A market shed-cum-godown at the small town of West Phaileng in Mizoram's Mamit district. Travelling through the state, you encounter such open halls with cement platforms repeatedly. Some inside cities, others lining the roads connecting towns and villages.
If those are constructed by the government, you also see smaller, private stalls. See this one, on the way to – if I remember right – West Phaileng, again. This and a couple of similar stalls stood near the tea shop where the “Sharing Sumo” – the ten seater ferrying passengers – stopped for tea. The bottles contain lemon juice and a similar sour drink from a local fruit called Hatghora (spelling alert). Apart from those, these stalls were selling oranges and the like.
And then, there is this yard I saw in Champhai. The smaller a place gets, the more diverse its stocking. This one had fruits, vegetables and meat.
A better instance of wider range (to adjust for smaller demand for only vegetable) is seen at the West Phaileng yard. Fruits and vegetables at the front, clothes and cosmetics at the back.
Of course, what is the most interesting is the variety you see. Those elongated things in this snap are lemons.
And the black bits in those plastic pouches are a kind of pulse.
From vegetables to fishes. What surprised me most of all was this fish stall in the Champhai Bazaar. The three fish in the lower left side of the table were alive. They lay on their side, just barely covered by water, sucking in water.
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