In the Tamel area, you can see many shops for tourists.
Most tourists come to Nepal for trekking, so many shops display North Face clothes and Marmot gear, but most of them are fake. I bought a North Face fleece jacket for 7USD and a pair of pants for 20USD. They looked OK, but they were not good quality. They were not good enough for serious outdoor activities.
A pashmina, a type of fine cashmere, is also popular as a good souvenir from Nepal. In your country, they are expensive, but in Nepal, you can buy them for a much cheaper price. There are several fair trade shops in Kathmandu. Their prices are a little bit higher than other shops, but you can rely on their quality. In general, western NPOs are supervising them, so their products are oriented for tourists from western countries, meaning, the products there are more sophisticated. I bought a pashmina knit cap for my friend in one of the fair trade shops. It was 10USD.
At sightseeing spots, we can see souvenir sellers on the streets. One of them tried to sell a pendant to me. I said 'No'. I wasn't interested in it. Then he started to beg me to buy it ' Madam, it is just 2USD!', and then 'OK, 1USD!', at last, '50 cents!'. I laughed and bought it. He looked very dirty, so I thought if I didn't buy it, he couldn't have had dinner. Anyway, these kinds of conversations are part of good memories of traveling.
No comments:
Post a Comment