The Vic, as the Victoria Market is now known, is set in a huge building that resembles something out of a Maharajah’s story.
It was first opened in the 1870s and was a way for some of the indentured Indian labourers, who did not want to return home after their contracts finished, could trade rather than farm.
This vast oriental bazaar has over 200 stalls offering a huge selection of spices, fabrics, clothes and saris, baskets, beads, sculptures, soap-stone sculpture and other African curios.
A wonderful fish market is downstairs.
It is a step into another world, with its blend of all things Indian and African. Spices and incense scents fill the air.
The prices are great and it is an opportunity to experience the atmosphere of an oriental marketplace where haggling is the norm.