Jayma Bazaar in Osh city, Kyrgyzstan, looks like any ordinary Central Asian market. Built largely of metal containers, running for over a kilometre, it criss-crosses the Ak-Bura river that divides central Osh.
Small passages run like arteries between hundreds of stalls, children darting between them. Wooden carts hold stacks of lipioshka, the traditional Kyrgyz bread, and women in colourful dresses and plastic shoes over their socks crouch next to buckets of herbs and sacks of dried fruits, chatting and keeping an eye out for customers.
Stalls are organised by theme: rows of colourful bras hang in the underwear section, small shoes alongside children’s clothes. At the far end, dust floats in the air where vendors sell wooden furniture. The word ‘devotchka’ (girl) rings out as vendors ask: ‘Where are you from?’
