Bazaars in Georgia

The introduction

Hello people, I hope you are having a great day!

Today I want to tell you about Georgian bazaar and how fun and, at the same time, tiring it is to walk in there and buy some things.

Well, to be honest, no one really likes going in bazaar. I guess, or at least, most of the people hate going to bazaar, because they know that there are many people walking around and buying things and there’s so much noise. The sellers wants to sell their things and people want to buy some good things, you know. There can be some arguing, too, and, usually, there are some funny situations all along the bazaar. There are different kinds of bazaars there. You may find some of them just full of fruits and vegetables. There are some of them full of clothes and shoes and stuff like that. Some of them are combination of those three and there may be other things, too, such as building materials and things like that, you know. So that, you should know what to find and where and you will just go in the bazaar and get out quickly. And that’s the main thing here: to come out quickly from bazaar, because there are so many things, that you can get all puzzled and stuff and don’t understand where to go or what to buy and, so that, you just end up wandering into the bazaar without any idea of what you are doing and it is just awful, because you just waste your time and not buying anything. Well, the thing is, that it’s really complicating, walking in the bazaar because of those many things, that they sell there. It’s just really difficult to get out of it on time.

I got used to walking in bazaars, because there was this bazaar in our town, where me and my father used to go and buy some things for home, I mean, there were mostly vegetables and fruit and some other food, such as meat, cheese and fish and stuff like that, and I really liked walking there, it was kind of exciting, because all those people were walking there and there were some of them telling stories and laughing and there were some things, that you could look at and some things. So that it was kind of a little adventure every time you went into the bazaar. Everyone, who wanted to buy some products for home went there and it was like everyone knew each other there. They would greet each other and ask how they were and what were the news. So that, it was never boring there, I guess.

Anyways, now about bazaars in Tbilisi.

There are some major bazaars in Tbilisi, which everyone knows, and when they want to buy some stuff, they just know where to go.

I’ll tell you about those ones, that I’ve been to and what they look like.

Station Square bazaar

Well, the Station Square is just a place, where you can literally find anything you want. It’s a well-known place, where there are lot’s of people and there’s always a crowd and the drivers just hate that place, because of so many people, and so many cars. And everyone’s there and it’s just impossible to park your car there, and, well, if you manage to park your car, then it will be very difficult to get out of there after you have finished what you came there for. So that, no one really likes going there by car. And if you are going there by public transport, that’s pretty easy, because there are many yellow buses and microbuses going there. However, the best way to get there is the metro. It’s pretty fast and the metro station is just in the middle of that crowded thing. Well, it has different stations, so that you can get out of there and get into some places. So that you should know where exactly you want to be, because there are some stairs going into different places. However, wherever you get out of it, you can easily get where you want, because there’s this huge place there, where you can’t really get lost, or if you get lost, you can just ask and everyone will tell you where to go.

The place is pretty enormous, if you want to know the truth. You should really know where you can find what you are looking for.

There you can buy some gold and silver things. There is this whole area of those jewellery stuff there in Tbilisi Central on the first floor. There are many technic shops there, too, such as Elit Electronics, MetroMart, Alta-Okay, Smiley, Array and others. There are also clothes’ shops, like LC WAIKIKI and MALS and others. Then, there’s a railway station there on the top floor or something like that, so that it’s a pretty busy place.

There is this underground place there, where you can shop for clothes. There are the second hand clothes, too, and just next to it, you can find clothes’ and shoes’ marketplace, where there are all new ones. and stuff like that and there’s so many of them, that you can get lost there. There are especially many shoes there and if you want to buy some, you should definitely go there, because there is a whole variety of them. Though, you may easily get confused!

There are many people sitting outside in the street selling some things pretty cheaply and sometimes they have really good things.

Then, there are these stairs going up, and looking up you can see a sign, that reads "Agrarian bazaar", where you can find all those food: vegetable, fruit, everything. There’s just everything, that you may need for your home and the prices are really good for buyers. People just go there and buy all those stuff. There’s just a boom there in December until the Christmas and New Year, because everyone just goes there and buys some things for the celebration. There are always many people there in those days and it’s a pretty strange experience for everyone, I guess.

If you come out of the Station Square metro station and go downhill a little bit, there you will see another bazaar on your left, (is a pretty large one, too), and they also have those vegetable, fruit, fish, cheese, meat... It’s pretty awesome place, too, where you can buy all those stuff in reasonable prices and they have pretty good products. If you want to know the truth, I mean, you can get really good products in any bazaar in Georgia. However, there are some people, who just don’t give you products if you want a few of them. Well, let me tell you this story that I experienced once. Me and my friend were there once in that bazaar and we saw those fresh Kiwi fruit and just wanted to eat some of them, so that we told that woman to give us 4 Kiwi fruits. She just got angry and didn’t want to give us “such few Kiwis”. So that we were just left like that and couldn’t do anything, so that we went to another one, who could sell us that much Kiwi fruits that we wanted.

Well, some years ago there was this thing that if you didn’t buy things that were at least 1 kilogramme you weren’t a man and that became everyone’s habit, I guess. They just didn’t buy anything less than 1 kilogramme and it was like it was better if the products got bad, rather than buy that amount of it that was really necessary. I mean, sometimes you don’t really need 1 kilogramme of something, of course, and maybe you just need 100 grams of it or 200 grams, so why should you buy the whole 1 kilogramme of it? That’s just crazy. You shouldn’t buy stuff, that you don’t really need and, moreover, which will get bitter and you will have to throw them away. So, I usually buy stuff that I need, no matter if I need just one or the whole 1 or more kilogrammes of it, because I shouldn’t buy extra stuff, which I don’t need. What is more, I’m a student and I don’t have that money to throw away. Of course, well, no one has that money to throw away. I prefer putting that money in other things, than throwing it away. There are many cases of that Kiwi fruit one. I’ve experienced some of them after that. People just get angry when you ask them to give you 3 or 4 or something like that apples for exemple. And the thing is, that I don’t need more than that and that’s the main point here. They want you to buy more, because they want to sell more, of course, however, they shouldn’t get all angry. The main difference between buying fruit and vegetables in bazaars and in supermarkets is, that you can choose the products yourself in those supermarkets, while the sellers give you those products themselves in bazaars and there can be some of them bitter or something like that and they just don’t want you to choose those products yourself, because if everyone chooses those products, then there will only be left those bitter ones and then no one will buy them, of course. And when the products are not imported, there’s always some bitter stuff there. Those sellers try to sell them, too, and sometimes they are lucky and someone will get those bitter stuff in their products or whatsoever. That’s just how it is in bazaars.

Samgori bazaar

Anyways, there’s this other major bazaar in Samgori near the metro station. It’s pretty huge and I remember, that we used to go there for those Christmas and New Year shopping, because there are so much stuff there and they are pretty cheap in contrast of those large supermarkets. You can even taste some things until you buy them. There are pretty good stuff there. There are always so many people. However, the place is pretty crowded on important dates, especially at the end of the December, when the Christmas and New Year days are coming. Besides, there’s this microbus station nearby and those microbuses go to Kakheti. There are many people who go there and until they go, they just walk into that bazaar to buy some stuff, I guess. That’s why there are so many people around there, too.

Didube bazaar

There’s another bazaar in Didube near the metro station. There they also have vegetables and fruits and cheese and meat and fish and clothes and many other stuff. It’s also a place, where those microbuses are and they mainly go to the west and, usually there are many people around there, too, of course.

Lilo Mall

Well, I guess, everyone knows Lilo Mall. That is a really enormous bazaar, where you can find just everything you can imagine. It’s a well-known bazaar, which has been there for years and it’s the same every time I go there. There are all those divisions for kitchen stuff, technics’ stuff, furniture, toys, bikes, building materials, clothes, shoes, plastic things..., well, there is just everything. It’s so large, that you can easily get confused and get lost and you can walk there for ages and you won’t even see the half of it, if you ask me. My aunt knows every little corner of it by heart, I guess, because she knows where every thing is there. I don’t know how she managed to remember all those stuff. However, when she is going there to buy something she needs, she just knows where to find that exact thing. That’s just fascinating! I remember, once some years ago we went shopping there for the school year (it was September or the end of August), I guess, there were so many people, that the whole pathways were crowded and there was not even a small place. Crowd moved so slowly, and it was impossible to do anything. We were just children and imagine how it was for us to walk there, when everyone is just trying to get out of there and there’s no place to go, but to stand there and follow the crowd slowly.

Eliava bazaar

Anyways, there’s another bazaar, that I would like to tell you about and that is Eliava bazaar. That is a place, where there are lot’s of building materials and technic and stuff like that and if someone wants to buy some things for building a house or building something or wants to have something redecorated or changed or things like that, they usually go there to buy some stuff. However, it’s just on that kind of place, where you can’t get easily with public transport and going there by car is not that comfortable either, if you want to know the truth. So, I guess, many people just hate going there. And there’s always difficult to park a car there and then just come out of there and that place is pretty crowded, too. So that, some people just prefer going to those supermarkets, such as Gorgia or Domino, where they can buy some building materials. However, these supermarkets are newly opened, so that it’s new and it’s pretty good, if you ask me, though until that, the main place for buying those materials was that Eliava bazaarand people would go there and walk there for some time to buy those things they needed and I’ve been there for a couple of times and it’s pretty tiring walking there looking for those things, that you need. And then you have to take all those things to your car and put them there and get them to your home or whatever and you do all that work and it’s not that comfortable, of course.

Varketili bazaar

There’s another bazaar in Varketili, which many people know about and I’ve been there many times. There you can find all those things, that are in other bazaars. There are fruits and vegetables sold in cheap prices and they are pretty good and delicious. There are plenty of cheese in the bazaar and when you see them you can get all confused and stuff. Besides, everyone just tells you to come and buy cheese from them and there’s this shouting all over the place when they see you going in there. There’s also meat sold there and they have a pretty good meat. They also have different kinds of homemade pickles, that you can’t ignore. Well, they kind of have everything there. Then there are those second hand stuff there and the new clothes. Shoes, bags and everything, too, just nearby. There are also some birthday party stuff. There’s those kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff and house stuff, in general. You can see some electric stuff, too, and some building materials. There are many plastic stuff and they are pretty useful. There are some really beautiful glasses, decorative flowers and things like that, too. You can find some school stuff and jewellery and perfume there too.

So, those are some bazaars in Tbilisi that you may find useful for some particular things. They are opponents of those large supermarkets. However, they are still popular places for people and many people go there to buy some stuff and, I guess, they will still be popular places for people for at least some years, because those places are not just places. They are like tradition and they are kind of unique.

---

Photo gallery