The Karat-Konso market

This morning we left from Arbaminch, in Ethiopia, to go and visit a Konso village, the road is the same as when we arrived here from Jinka, in fact it is the Karat-Konso-Jinka road.

After about a couple of hours drive, in which we have traveled 85 km, we reach the town of Karat-Konso that is the most important urban center present in the Konso lands.

Today it is market day, in fact every Monday and Thursday the largest market in this region is held and inevitably attracts many people from nearby villages, but also from more distant places.
 

The whole city is teeming with people and, wherever we look, there are goods for sale: fruit, vegetables, meat, clothes, shoes, wood, coal, various objects; there is everything and people seem to be caught in a shopping euphoria.

In the coming days in Ethiopia the Meskal is celebrated, it is a very important celebration for the Ethiopians, and therefore at the market they are buying everything they need to celebrate properly.

The result is that there are so many people, many have come here to sell, others to buy; the collective mini buses leave overloaded with people and goods, among which live hens, wood, bags that nobody knows what they held and containers that could contain water or grappa or sorghum and maize beer.

The market is a riot of colors and brings joy, not far from the road there is a large group of people and lots of tanks, Jimmy explains that they are full of grappa that is produced at home and then sold at the market; it is possible to taste it before buying it with the result that many get drunk just doing the different tastings.

We didn't go around the market, but we observed its confusion from our car; we also stopped at the roadside to wait for our local guide, who will accompany us to the Konso village and take the opportunity to get some pictures.

Near the town there is a river on whose shores there are many people, our guide tells us that they are bathing, men on one side with respect to the bridge and women on the other; in fact, looking closely, there are people soaping, others immersing themselves in water and many of them are not wearing clothes, we respect their privacy and we decide to continue, the Konso village is waiting for us.