Friday Wash Day

Everyone has those wash day blues .... the day you have to do your washing and clothes ironing. Well in Mumbai, India this is done on a different scale at the Dhobi Ghat where hundreds of workers toil away washing, drying and ironing clothes sent from all over the city. Miraculously the clothes end up back at their respective owners. These wash pits are used to scrub and pound the clothes before rinsing, drying and finally pressed using charcoal fired heavy irons.

Flea Market

During the Queen's Day (Koninginnedag) celebrations in Amsterdam you can see many people selling items on the streets. This lady had staked out a good location on one of the bridges over a canal and was trying to sell a large array of clothing. I liked her comfortable cross-legged pose set off nicely with the cigarette in her hand.

Koninginnedag is known for its nationwide vrijmarkt ("free market" or flea market), at which many Dutch sell their secondhand items. It is also an opportunity for "orange madness" or oranjegekte, for the national colour, when the normally straight-laced Dutch let down their hair, often dyed orange for the occasion.