Mandawi Bazaar

Mandawi Bazaar is a working market in the Old City of Kabul, Afghanistan, serving residents rather than tourists. Its stalls sell the staples of Afghan daily life: dried fruit and nuts such as raisins, apricots, mulberries, almonds and pistachios, whole and ground spices, tea, rice, and bolts of cloth and ready-made garments. This sets it apart from souvenir streets such as Chicken Street, because nearly everything on offer is bought for use in local kitchens and homes, and prices are quoted in Afghan afghani at local levels.

Vendors are generally authentic traders, many from families that have held their stalls for generations. There are very few tourist trinkets, so the value lies in food products and fabrics. Dried fruit is sold by weight from open sacks and trays, and sellers usually let customers taste before buying. Spice merchants blend mixes on request, and cloth dealers stock cotton, wool, headscarves and patterned fabric by the metre.

Bargaining is customary but lighter than in souvenir markets, since prices for staples are close to the going rate. Visitors can ask for a small discount on larger purchases and should pay in cash, because card terminals and tax-refund arrangements do not exist in the bazaar. Weighing is done on scales at the stall, so it is wise to watch the measurement and agree the price per kilogram first.

The atmosphere is busy, noisy and crowded, especially in the late morning, with handcarts, porters and shoppers sharing narrow lanes. Food is available on site from tea sellers, bakers selling fresh naan and small kebab stalls, which is the simplest way to eat while exploring. The layout is a tangle of covered and open lanes grouped loosely by trade, so dried fruit and nut sellers cluster together, as do spice and cloth traders. The dried fruit section and the spice stalls are the corners most worth finding. Because the Old City is dense and unsigned, visitors benefit from local company and should check current security advice before going.