Shopping tours in Nepal
Besides the famous monuments Nepal considered shopper’s paradise. Lot of people travel extensively in Kathmandu just to do shopping. The shops and outlets selling the handicrafts produced locally and lot of shops selling the imported goods from neighboring countries. Find the right shop and right location is quiet time consuming for many people who come here for short period of time. We planned the trip which combines visit to the monuments and do some shopping as well. This itinerary is targeted for individuals, couples and families and not for a group. If you are joining a shopping group let us know in advance so we modify the plans accordingly. Shopping not only needs money, it needs lot of patience and it is also an opportunity to know how the handicrafts are made. According to the need of our customer we recommend the best possible outlets and area for the goods they desire to buy from Himalayan countries. Many people love to buy paintings, statues, pashmina shawls, Tibetan rugs, wood carvings, jewelries, abstract arts, singing bowls and whatever that catches their eyes in the local market including spices, clothing, utensils, bed covers, wall hangings, beads and necklaces, laces for the dress, curios, paper masks, wooden masks and many more. Some of the popular souvenirs from the country are described in brief.
Traditional paintings
Most of the traditional painting passes through different processes before they are ready to give it to clients. These traditional painting are popular by the name Thangkas. Mostly they paint on cotton canvas. They fill out the pores in cotton canvas by applying glues, clay and many other type of materials. When they prepare canvas the master makes a drawing according to the religious books. As most of these traditional paintings carry Buddhist philosophies or different buiddhist deities, they have to follow some guidelines also. Novice artist make some course jobs and the master does the ornamentation. Normally this can be rolled out and given in a tube for easy to carry and protect them. The price goes with the quality of the painting and varies with the workmanship on it. Regular normal quality painting ranges from $100 to $500. One can get a small souvenir type just for $10 or 20 also.
Pashmina shawls
Pashmina is a type of wool which is used to make scarfs, shawls, gloves, panchos and even sweaters. The quality of the Pashmina is determined with the quality of the thread they are using. The texture of the pashmina also very important. Normal quality Pashmina shawls you can get from $50 and up. The good quality Pashmina goes even up to $500 or more.
Singing bowls
These bowls are also popular by the name healing bowls. The bowls are made out of alloy. Surprisingly the price of the bowl varies with the ingredient they mix even they looks more or less similar. If the bowl is hand hammered cost more than the machine made or commercially manufactured. Price of an average healing bowl is about $150. There are bowl available in the market just for $5, commercially manufactured, very small in size and mix the only cheaper metals in the alloy.
Statues
Statues of different Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddess are a very common souvenir from Nepal. The problem with the statues is they have to pass through department of archeology as sometime the stolen statues from temples are sold at the streets. If the statue is simple and small on that case you can get a waiver getting a certificate from department of archeology.
Tibetan Rugs
When Tibet get a political problem back in 1950’s, lot of Tibetan fled to Nepal and stayed in refugee camp. These people who fled from Tibet have a skill of weaving rugs and carpets in Tibet dedicated to do the same here in Nepal. Mostly these are woolen rugs and last for years. The price goes with the pattern, quality and size. The average price of these rugs are $250 per square meters.
Silver Jewelleries
Nepal doesn’t manufacture any silver but import silver and make beautiful ornaments with silver and different type of semi-precious stones from the mountain area. Normally people buy some earrings, pendants, chains and necklaces in the market.
