Shopping in Jaipur


Saturday - December 27, 1997



Jaipur is both a shopper's paradise and a shopper's worst nightmare. The selection is wonderful. There is also an abundance of very fine workmanship here. You will also find no shortage of con men and disreputable vendors. The government emporiums are a good place to start. The prices there are fixed, so you can learn the value of standard handicraft items, textiles, and jewelry. The photograph above was taken at a factory store where we watched rugs in the making.



Once we learned how to haggle, we got a good deal on a small rug we will use as a wall hanging. At the same emporium, Kathleen and I also had some clothes made to fit. These were completed in a matter of hours and delivered to our hotel room. The workmanship was quite good and we left satisfied.



Outdoor markets containing all manner of spices and produce were also quite common.

The day ended on a sour note, however. We had an unpleasant experience with a jewelry vendor who promised to complete a custom jewelry order but did such a poor quality job that we had to cancel the order. It was not pretty and more than a bit stressful. We went back to the hotel quite emotionally drained. We were looking forwarding to leaving the next day for the lake resort town of Udaipur.

Let's go to Udaipur!