MARKETS

On Sunday mornings one of the roads in Negombo is closed and transformed into massive street markets. Hundreds of vendors set out their goods on tables or on sheets on the ground; under tarpaulins or unshaded. Fruits, vegetables (some familiar, others not so), fabrics, sweets, spices, garments, traditional cooking pots and many other odds and ends sit on display. Streams of people file past and the vendors, catching your eye, will invite you to come and buy their wares. Vegetable sellers stand by large metal balance scales. You will buy their goods by the kilo or half-kilo because that is the size of the metal weights by which prices are determined. A visit to the markets is an interesting experience and at the end you can leave with a load of fresh groceries too.