Shopping is something that is associated with every tour. It is a way to buy things unique to that place like textiles and handlooms made only at that particular place, handicrafts, showpieces and a lot of other items special to that place. Having a passion for shopping, I looked forward to our visit to Lakkar Bazaar Shimla, of which I had heard a lot from my colleagues in the university. After the visit to the Heritage Museum we had a lot of time to visit the market. So we decided to go to Lakkar Bazaar and do some shopping.
Lakkar Bazaar is a large market place near the Ridge and contains a variety of items. The wooden articles carved out of deodar and walnut wood attracted a lot of visitors. This included bangles, key chains, wooden glasses, wooden frames, and a lot of other items. There were many shops selling these articles. I saw a huge crowd of foreign tourists examining these wooden pieces of art. I too managed to buy a few small pieces of wooden items to gift my friends and keep some myself as memento. The kids too selected a few items for their friends and teachers. They were very beautiful and artistically made. It took a lot of bargaining and negotiations to get them at reasonable prices.
After getting out of the shop we went on to another shop selling handicrafts and bought a few items. Souvenirs and other decorative items were also there for the tourists. In one shop, I saw very beautifully carved and stylish walking sticks and they were priced starting at Rs.100. I too managed to buy a walking stick at a reasonable price.
After shopping, we visited the roller skating rink in the bazaar and also other places. There were also a number of hotels here, Diplomat Hotel and White Hotel to name a few. We had aloo tikki and Chole Bhature at Sita Ram, for which it is famous all over Shimla. We had a wonderful time at Lakkar Bazaar Shimla and came back to the hotel tired but feeling happy.
