Known officially as Iewduh and to everyone as Bara Bazaar, this is the heart of indigenous commerce in Shillong: a sprawling, mostly women-run market that has been operating in roughly its present form since the 1800s. Stalls sell betel nut wrapped in pan leaves, smoked pork and dried fish from the Khasi Hills, baskets, hand-woven jainsem cloth, and great mounds of orange chillies.
It is not a tourist market — there is little here aimed at foreigners — and the lanes between stalls are dense, slippery in rain, and best navigated without much of a plan. Come hungry: the food court near the back has stalls grilling local sausages and serving jadoh (Khasi rice with pork blood) for a fraction of restaurant prices.