Tibet – July 2006

I am not a very good haggler. My general approach is quite simple: After asking for the price, if it is good, I buy; if it’s too high, I walk away. This often leads the seller to haggle on my behalf until the price drops low enough for me to accept. It’s not sophisticated, but it has served me well. However, I do need to be able to walk away for this method to work.

Barkhor Square is a historic area of narrow streets and a public square with markets, located around Jokhang Temple. I’ve got an hour to spare before attending a chanting ceremony in the temple, so I wander about the stalls that line the narrow streets. In my wandering, I make a wrong turn in search of something cold to drink and end up down a very aggressive lane. I notice a man sitting in the middle of the road and, as I approach, he greets me and reaches out his hand. I greet him in return and shake his hand. Without letting go of my hand, I am led to his stall, where he wants to know what I’d like to buy.

Seeing that I am looking about for an exit, his grip tightens while another vendor comes up and holds my opposite shoulder. I’ve never been held in place while shopping before, and I figure I’m going to need to buy something to get out of this situation. I notice a singing bowl I quite like and ask how much it costs. The price is too high, but I can’t walk away, so I start to haggle. As the price begins to drop, another bowl is added, and we’re back to the price we started with.

Sometime during our prolonged negotiations, a third vendor arrived and is now holding my elbow. As I start to get the price for the two bowls down, a mantra bracelet is added, and we’re back to the original price. Starting to see the futility of my predicament, I accept this price, as the original vendor has many more bowls and bracelets that could be added if I continue to haggle. I advise him that I need to be freed to pay, and all three relent. I make my purchase and am finally free.

I still have the first singing bowl and bracelet. The second bowl was donated to a Buddhist nun I knew at the time for her meditation center, which I had helped her move into. I also added a new tenet to my haggling method: No shaking hands.

This travel tale is included in my collection, Can’t Get Here from There: Fifty Tales of Travel. Buy it on Amazon.

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