COMMERCE. TRADE. Barter and bargain. Hustle and bustle. Markets, souqs, bazaars. Trade is what drove human migration. Salt trains through Africa. Silk roads through Asia. Spice islands in the east. Even in communities and corners where self-sufficiency is still the norm, people will still meet to get themselves a bit of this in exchange for some of that. The noise, the colour, the dirt, the smells, the flavours, the fragrances – and occasionally, the pickpockets. Markets are an insight into the lands we visit.
A battered old family shop awaits demolition and development, Tokyo.
Inside the sprawling covered bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey.
At a roadside market, east of Lusaka, Zambia.
Live stock for sale at camel market, Somaliland capital Hargeisa.
Marvellus hikes begin from the small town of Lushoto, Tanzania, where this produce market takes place.
Kids selling soft drinks by the road, Zomba, Malawi.
Chickens and other birds for sale in an Iranian bazaar.
Cotton bales in the ancient bazaar, Tabriz, Iran
Tea and other goods for sale, Tabriz, Iran's ancient bazaar. The yellow blocks are a kind of sugar.
Tabriz, Iran, was an important caravansarai stop on the ancient Silk Roads linking China, Europe, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Like most Middle Eastern bazaars, it pays to be alert at Tehran's Grand Bazaar.
In Egypt's Aswan, a stall holder peaks his spices.
Oranges for sale at a market near Raqqa, Syria.
Sheep are the main focus of a market near Raqqa, Syria.
A typical corner market in suburban Damascus, Syria, 2005.
A road side market in Tripoli, in Lebanon's north.
Damascus' ancient bazaar, seen from the Ummayad mosque, Syria.
Sharhjah (UAE) has an interesting livestock market, a world away from the flashy excesses of Dubai.
A butcher in Lahore, Pakistan.
Perfumes for sale, Quetta, Pakistan.
A woman sells bread in Turkestan's bazaar, Kazakhstan.
The camels have been mostly replaced by trucks and trains, but the bazaars of central Asia are fascinating as ever. It was 40+ degrees in Turkestan where these two boys traded from their (father's?) van. Kazakhstan.
Dried fruits are a staple feature o central Asia's bazaars, like this one in Kazakhstan.
The sprawling Green Bazaar, in the former Kazak capital, Al Mata.
Maritime paraphernalia in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Tankers and freighters are broken down on the beaches, and saleable goods are salvaged.
Slicing fish, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Porters in Dhaka's waterfront market, in Bangladesh.
A mobile fruit vendor on Dhaka's Buriganga river, Bangladesh.
A man peddles his mearge wares on the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
A small stall holder, Dinajpur, Bangladesh.
A merchant in his stall, Dinajpur, Bangladesh.
It seemed that every taxi from the Uzbek capital bound for Fergana was stopping at this roadside bazaar for bread.
We had ventured to Rishton for the workshop of Uzbekistan's greatest ceramics and pottery master, but also found a marvelous, friendly bazaar.
The Fergana Valley is the fruit bowl of Uzbekistan, where flavours take on new dimensions. Truckloads of fruit pass through the sprawling Margilon Bazaar.
A Tajik woman sells baskets on the street outside Margilon Bazaar. The fertile Fergana Valley is ethnically Tajik, divided from Tajikistan by Stalin.
Precious gemstones from the hills around Pailin find their way into the market in Battambang, Cambodia.
Showing my age here! Compact discs and cassette tapes of pirated music in a Phnom Penh market.
The seafood section in one of Phnom Penh's markets.
A roadside fruit market in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.
1993 in the Olympic Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.