When I visited Leh in June, 2005 the primary reason was to trek. It could not be as I developed a bad stomach after a few days. We suddenly found a lot of time to spend in the city, and it was not in our original plan. So, we ended by shopping in Leh.
The markets in Leh are colorful and I often found myself gawking at various display windows or roadside stalls. The problem was, we had made no plans for any significant shopping so we had no proper budget for it.
The thing that fascinated me most was the display of jewelry at the roadside stalls. As a rule I hardly wear any, apart from earrings, but I found the designs and colors so beautiful that I ended up buying two pendants and a pair of earrings. I also had a chat will the ladies selling the jewelry. I feel the prices in Leh are a bit high if you earn in Indian rupees as, they decide it by the value of dollar. If a thing is priced at Rupees 500, it is actually less than $ 10, and this pricing makes sense as there are so many foreign tourist in Leh.
I guess the local Moti Market beats the Main Market Leh hollow in terms of colorfulness. The above photograph was taken there. My husband bought a second hand ‘down’ jacket from here, which we hope to use in our next trek.
The other thing I fell in love with is T-shirts. Without a prior budget allocation I managed to buy four. I am wearing one right now. It is green in color and has two Lamas saluting each-other, depicted on it. My nephews have one where two skeletons are dancing together. I got one for my brother-in-law Amrit that has a dragon on it. My husband has one with the slogan ‘Yak Yak Yak YakLadakh’ with lot of Yak faces on it. For my sis Alka I got a shawl. All this shopping was done in main market Leh. Prices vary from shop to shop, so do not rush into buying.
Mridula, your pieces are very interesting… and tempting – been planning ladakh for ages. now I must go – if only to shop for those masks 🙂
Awesome Blog!!! glad i came here from poison’s blog. thanx for the interesting pictures(^-^)
Hey Mridula…That’s why i prefer window-shopping…..plzzzzz change the url of my blog…http://surgingwaves.blogspot.com
I like the masks they are really cool.
This is what I like about our country…there’s so much diversity… It never looks like someone went about rubber-stamping all over the place!! And great shot of the masks…very nice.
i have been to both places it is surprising they sell pearlds for a cheaper rate as in where do they get it …uma
I’ve been following your treks with my travel guide. This one sounds very challenging; it’s a shame you didn’t get to finish it.I can’t wait to go shopping. I know I’ll be tempted to buy too much and I have no idea how I’ll get it all home!
Thank you Charu, I hope you will go to Ladakh soon and enjoy the visit.Niki, I enjoyed your blog too, thanks for stopping by.Avik, I will fix it. Glad to see you back.Pecos blue, thank you.I agree Deepak about the rubber stamping part.Uma, I guess they are are not pearls but other stones. Anyway I do not much about it.Lily, the Markha valley trek was not so difficult, walking wise, but at one point of time I used to be extremely fit, so I ride over it these days. I know it was sad we could not complete it. And the worst part is that the trouble started at New delhi itself but I did not pay much attention.
hinice picshow did u add teh site meterkindly rely asap
Arvind thanks for stopping by, I wrote about sitemeter at yur blog but I am not sure how much of a help it is.
i enjoy your travel stories very much!
Gulnaz, thank you. I enjoy your verses so much.
nice pics, interesting destinations, Mridula, u rock 🙂
Anurag, thanks for your kind words.
I Love markets! Great pictures and you’re making me want to move India up on my list of “places to visit next”. 😉
Wow! great stuff… i myself love shopping for Tibetan wares and hence Leh-Ladakh is on my must-shop-in list!
Crystal, I hope you would make it one day.uchira, happy shopping.
Planning a trip of Leh & Laddak.
Any shopping recommendation what to buy as a souvenir?