Description

   Our first of several stops for the day was the Bird Market. It wasn't a sanitized tourist attraction -- it was the real thing in all it's PETA-offending glory. Pets and animals not normally considered pets were in cages all over the market. There were puppies, kittens, snakes, baby squirrels, lizards, and one semi-Komodo dragon in addition to the various pigeons, lovebirds, parakeets and mealy worms. There was also a surplus of giant red-ants, to be eaten by pet birds. We stopped next to a pile of red-ants and I quickly found myself slapping my thighs and hopping up and down. The rest of the morning I kept finding them on my legs, arms, and in my hair.

   I spotted a cute puppy in a cage. Horrified and hoping for the best, I asked the seller if he was a pet. 'No,' said the seller, mischievously. 'Food.'

   I refused to believe it and the man laughed and said resignedly, 'yes, pet.'

   Transactions and negotiations were going on all around us. Animals were passed across counters, passed back, and then negotiated on. I couldn't see the difference between the sold and rejected animals. All the baby squirrels looked good to me. But the shopkeepers knew exactly what made the perfect baby squirrel, apparently. They inspected closely before making decisions.

   We moved on, visiting a juice bar right next to the pigeon section. It seemed that every man, young and old, had a pair of pigeons in their hands or in small bags. Other men sold small clay whistles. The whistles were fastened to the back of the pigeon's tail, so that the pigeon-keeper could determine both the speed and location of his pigeon. Pigeons mate for life and the pigeon in flight always returns to his mate, kept aside as bait by the pigeon-keeper.

   We moved up to the ruins of the old water palace. Some boys were up there, waving a girl pigeon around in the air to attract her boyfriend to return home. The water palace itself is mostly unrestored and crumbling. Parts of it are covered in moss. It's quite attactive actually.