414asimi
★★2.0Wrote on 16 Mar 2023
A market's atmosphere cometh from crowds - Anjuna has none!
We visited Anjuna Market for the very first time back in 2003, this was 20 years to the month from this visit. Back in the day, the market was thriving, vibrant and full of hustle and bustle, with an array of quirky characters, both in relation to vendors and patrons that visited. The vendors really worked had to gain your custom and make the sale. Fast-forward to today the market is a former shadow of its past glory, I was shocked at the level of decline, where are the crowds??? The vendors also have changed their tact and there is an air of expectancy. "We'll charge these ridiculous prices and you as expat visitors will pay the asking without question!" Their prices are an insulting to your intelligence, and when you push back with a realistic counter-offer they take offense and become aggressive... not the best sales or marketing strategy. We visited in Feb 2023 with no intention of buying anything, we just wanted to take in the atmosphere (or should I now state the lack of), however my 8 year old son fell in love with a mango tree-trunk drum. There were a number of sellers, and negotiated with one such vendor, the price was of course ridiculous, so we walked away, met another seller further along the market. Astonishingly our movements in the market were being tracked and the next drum vendor was well aware that we were wanting to purchase a drum and on seeing us darted forward to greet us specifically, and ironically he refused to go 1 rupee below the first vendor's price. Unfortunately, this showed us that the vendors work as an unethical cabal to ensnare tourists. Reluctantly, I paid over the odds and purchased the drum, knowing full well about this dirty tactics, just so as not to disappoint my son. Thereafter, we promptly decided that the market really had nothing further to offer and proceeded to depart, not before of course being held to ransom as a captive audience with the tuk-tuk drivers (as the market is in the middle of nowhere). Our driver proceeded to charge Rs. 900 (US$ 11) to take us 6km, back to the hotel, a journey that should have been maximum around Rs.300 even at tourist rates. It just really leaves a very bad taste in the mouth, and flies in the face of fair play, instead of embracing the tourism trade, the local population show nothing but contempt!
