The bus driver understood my terrible chinese and kindly let me know when it was my turn to get off (although I confess to doubting his alleged kindness when I saw the industrial wasteland in which I was to be abandoned). I ducked and dived in my newly acquired fashion of ambling casually across ten lanes of huffing, chugging, honking, screeching streams of traffic ignoring the traffic lights as much as they do. (I am still unsure why I think I can win at this game. But it's fun.) A dusty track under the overhead freeway, some warehouses, a bike and car parking area and... gold. Lanes and lanes of warehouses and shacks full of the most incredible array of rubbish, junk, treasures - whatever you'd like to call it - imaginable.
It's all dusty, dirty, chaotic and half the stuff is broken. There are stall holders arguing amongst themselves, playing cards or chess, drinking tea, spitting and smoking. Kids are riding bikes and scooters round the place, or climbing through the tv and washing machine graveyards. The women are mostly knitting on stoops with the ever present rice cooker, tea urn or wok within easy reach.
The lanes and warehouses appear to be divided into sections. The second hand clothing in one, old building materials (antique doors and windows for example) in another, tools and machinery in another, books in another lane, and white and black goods' "graveyards" in another. I love these kinds of markets!
With my shopping list memorised and my camera on hand I spent the afternoon exploring and trying on stuff and tweaking all kinds of gadgets and just mucking about with the kids.
I came home with all the boxes ticked on the shopping list, my excursion yielding 4 wool winter coats, 2 woollen scarves, a dinky plastic fantastic Mickey Mouse alarm clock for my friend Nathan, and a "Giant" brand pushbike with Shimano gears, lock and rack included all for about $90 (less the 12 cent busfare I saved on the return trip having loaded all my goodies onto the rack of my new trusty steed for the homeward trip). Happy days!
For the junkyard fossickers among you, here's some goodies for you to salivate over.