Camden Market

Imagine every stereotype you have of England: etiquette, elegance, proper manners, conservative dress. Now picture the polar opposite and you'll get Camden Market. It's funky flair and eclectic combination of goth, emo, and hippie culture makes you feel like you've ventured into another world. 


Walking around Camden Market takes some getting used to. Everything is so blatantly exposed -- sex shops, tattoo parlors, a store called "Amsterdam of London" whose legality you have to question -- that, at first, I felt like it was wrong of me to look. But I eventually reasoned it was far better to forfeit my pride than give up my chance to inspect the tantalizing and curious sites.

First, the reason for our visit. We stopped to get dread wax for my friend from a hairdresser who scolded him almost instantly after we walked through the door, and continued to scream at us for about 30 minutes thereafter. I'm not exactly sure what was going on, but it was a fantastic experience. How many people can say they got lectured in a dreadlock salon?

We then went to this incredible techno/neon/sex shop that reminded me of a Buzz Lightyear ride at Universal Studios. Everywhere you look there are gigantic tubes with neon lights and massive robots that change colors. With orange hair and bright tattoos, even the employees look like they require a halogen bulb. With my digital camera armed and ready and a naive look on my face, I did a terrible job at blending in, and soon a member of the staff forced me to put my camera away. Luckily I was able to snap a couple shots of the merchandise before my camera was seized.

For about 80 pounds you can by this cow in a glass display case.

Or this odd aquarium with alternating LED lights. Oh, and jelly fish. I'm assuming the jelly fish aren't real, but your guess is as good as mine.

When we came out of the store, we ended up in this quaint eating area with stone paths, a variety of ethnic food options, and THIS:

Looks like the woman's wearing tights, right? Look closer.

I do believe that those tights are tattooed on. My friend Sham and I actually followed this woman (is that wrong?) and we could not find a seam where the stockings ended. You definitely don't see that every day. Very cool.