The thing about Gardhaia is of course that it is a very traditional town because it stayed isolated and protected from the modern world for a long time.Donkeys are still the main transport inside the old part of the city since cars will not fit in the old narrow streets. In fact there is only one street large enough to allow cars onto the main market place.
I really like the atmosphere of the market place.
Yes, people did stare at me, but they are not unused to tourists so they stared a little but not in a way that felt uncomfortable to me.
I spent quite a bit of time at the market place, in the open space and under the arcades looking in the stores around it. I probably spent an entire morning in the carpet store talking, choosing carpets and jewelery and generally just sitting around.
At one point two women came in and told the store owner that as far as they knew Christians could behave as they please because they had neither hell nor heaven in their religion...Now I am not religious, but I know that this is not true. So sitting on a pile of carpets I pretended to be Christian and explain that this was not the case that "we" believed that only those who behave well would go to heaven. It was a revelation to the people in the store.
I don't like having my picture taken, so I don't often take picture of people, but in Gardhaia it was even more the case.
Once I asked some old guys if I could take their pictures and they refused, making me even more reluctant to take pictures of people after this.
So here is a view, totally skewed, of one of the market street. You have to imagine below it a narrow street full of people buying vegetables and meat and all that stuff.
I know it is impossible.
One day I'll take more pictures of people.
