Mangalore, India

 We returned again to Mangalore. This time we took a trip to the local market. Lots of smelly fresh and dried fish, and fruits and vegetables.

Our welcome to Mangalore had a red carpet, and a troop of loud, but good drummers! We have often have had entertainment in India when we disembark the ship. The hazy sky is also very typical - a mixture of humidity and smog. It looks like it should be cool, but it feels like walking in a steam bath!

The drummers.

The fresh fish area in the market. Very smelly! the red archway in the background is actually a little Hindu neighborhood temple.

A lady selling baskets of dried fish in the market. It wasn't as smelly as the fresh fish area.

A man making fresh grilled bread ( I think the name is Puri) It's first made in a spiral then rolled very thin and grilled. The result is a crispy outside and a flakey chewy inside that pulls apart easily. Our chefs on the ship, who are mostly Indian have made it for our Indian buffet nights. It's quite delicious and addicting!

Bags of fried Indian snacks.

It's a bit hard to see, but the proprietor of the shop was taking pictures on his cell phone of the tourists taking pictures of his products! Apparently tourists in the market are still a novelty here. 

You would never guess that these bundles on the street actually contain rice that is ready for transport or long term storage. No bugs would work their way into those containers! The people of Mangalore eat more rice than bread products with their meals.

The strange pink fruit in between the bananas and pomegranates is dragon fruit.

Crossing the road here is a contact sport! No pedestrian crosswalks or walk signs. Not many street lights on the narrow roads. Basically the local Indian group leader holds out his arm to stop traffic, and everybody follows him (and prays)! The tourist in the picture is shaking his head and heaving a sigh of relief!