Shopping in Nepal
Be careful most things that you buy in Pokhara will probably be cheaper in Thamel, Kathmandu if you know how to drive a bargain. Pokhara lakeside mainly caters to dollar tourists, and one might end up paying more than elsewhere. Also be careful of a Potala shop where the saleswoman is really rude, i think she is the only rude person i met in my entire trip! Bad egg!
Mainly an activity in Lakeside and Damside, where laid-back curio stalls make a welcome change from the hard-driving salesmen of Kathmandu, even if their prices and selection don’t quite compare. Mahendra Pull area might offer you some good pricing on things as it is the market where locals shop. We actually accidentally managed to buy some very old original paintings, thanka style for a ridiculous amount of money! But that is a one off. Gurung took us this side.
A shop called Dhukuti, is a fair trade shop, and has some really nice things that cater to the international tastes
Specialities include batiks, wooden flasks, dolls in ethnic dress and fossil-bearing shaligram stones from the Kali Gandaki. Hand-stitched waIl hangings in simple Tibetan designs have been produced for the tourist market, but are attractive nonetheless.
Persuasive Tibetans peddle their wares in Lakeside’s cafes, but these aren’t produced locally, and carpets are best purchased at the Tibetan villages. Hand-knitted woollen sweaters, socks and such aren’t of very good quality here, but may fit the bill for trekking. Kashmiris have colonized Lakeside, as they have Thamel, with boutiques touting “Asian” art: mainly high-priced carpets and cheap papier-mache and soapstone widgets. Other than that, youll find the usual range of tourist bait, most of it imported from Kathmandu: ritual masks, thangka, embroidered T-shirts, cloth bags and hippy clothes. Stalls along the strip opposite the palace are extremely competitive. The bookshops and stalls around Lakeside and Damside are individually small, but collectively they can muster a good selection.
