Just the term “night market” conjures up something exotic. We’re fascinated by things that go on after dark. Even the wicked and demonic rituals we envision drive us to theaters to realize our darkest fantasies. So when you hear that there is a night market, well, that just suggests that there is something more than you’d find at say, a day market. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

I’ve arrived at many destinations to have my hosts inform me I’m so fortunate to have arrived in time for the night market. They always make it sound like a rare opportunity to experience life like a local. In truth, most big cities in Asia host a market night after night in the same location. In smaller cities, the market may move from one section of town to another each night, but it is basically the same market.

The first few times I fell for this. I changed whatever plans I had so that I could go to the night market. What I realized after my third market is that they are pretty much all the same. All the night markets sell clothing, shoes, and accessories. Nothing exotic, mind you, just plain old printed t-shirts, flip flops, plastic bracelets and the like.

I’ve walked row after row of these markets to find that there is little variety in the things being offered. On more than one occasion I’ve bought something from a vendor, thinking I was supporting a local crafts person only to find the same thing for sale just a few vendors down. This holds true throughout Asia.

At the night market in Thailand, I found the same intricately cut folding cards that I bought in Vietnam two months earlier. I felt scammed. I was the one responsible for the scam, of course, convincing myself that the woman in Vietnam had hand cut the cards herself, and I am the one who continued to follow the entreaties of people to check out the night market in their town.

Now I know better. Just as we fool ourselves into believing there are vampires and witches filling the nights with their supernatural drama, we fool ourselves into thinking the night market is anything more than an outdoor shopping mall, and a budget one at that.