Anjuna's weekly Wednesday flea market is as much part of the Goan experience as a day on the beach. More than three decades ago, it was conceived and created by hippies smoking jumbo joints.

convening to compare experiences on the heady Indian circuit and selling pairs of Levi jeans or handmade jewellery to help fund the rest of their stay. Nowadays things are far more mainstream and the merchandise comes from all over India: sculptures and jewellery courtesy of the Tibetan and Kashmiri traders; colorful Gujarati tribal women selling T-shirts; richly colorful saris, bags and bedspreads from Rajasthan; sacks of spices from Kerala; and the hard-to-miss bejeweled tribal girls from Karnataka pleading passers-by to 'come look in my shop'. The best time to visit is early (from 8am) or late afternoon (around 4pm till close just after sunset). The first market of the season is around mid-November, continuing till the end of April.