Kariakoo

The word Kariakoo isn't an actual word with any historical meaning. Instead, it's just derived from 'Carrier Corps', as British troops used to be based here during World War I. There used to be a large village here during pre-colonial times, but then some German businessman bought about 200 hectares of the area and then it was passed on to the German administration from him, and a large market was built there. Then the British conquered it from the Germans and used it as a base for their Carrier Corps- a military organisation founded in Kenya to aid the British against the Germans in East Africa.

A lot of history has flown through this place. Today, this place is a huge market bursting with activity. It is impossible to walk peacefully without having a bike or a cycle run over your feet. It is impossible to stop anywhere and think even for a split second about whether you want to go to that shop on the other side of the road. It is impossible to carry a camera around without risking theft. My neighbour was actually surprised to know that I came back home with the camera in one piece.

But still, you get things for cheap here. Real cheap. A large frying pan the size of a car wheel would cost you about AED 16 here. Three full buckets, each larger than the large KFC buckets, one filled with tomatoes, one filled with capsicum, and the other filled with onions, costed us less than AED 20. And all of those vegetables were actually shared among the three families on our floor, and lasted a week for each family. So talk about value for money, there's probably no place on Earth that can beat Kariakoo. But of course, getting to Kariakoo is the easiest part, and is the only easy thing about it.

The takeaway from here is that, there's always easy stuff and valuable things. You could very well go to the supermarket nearby to get weeks-old stuff at high price because it's easy, or go to the market half an hour away and buy fresh things at half the price. No one's blaming you for your choice, but you've got to choose for yourself, and not complain about your choice. Remember, you're the one choosing. It's always on your head. So the only person you have the right to complain against, is yourself.