SHOPPING IN GOA Location : Goa Where To Go : Panjim, Candolim, Anjuna Easy Bets : Flea market, Beach stalls, Candolim Road What To Buy : Coconut shell decors, Goan hats, Fenny

Shopping - Care To Take A Piece of Everything?

Famous Wednesday Market, Goa

Festive Celebrations Mapusa

Arts And Crafts Panjim

Margao

After a rocking experience on the beaches of Goa and banging your heads to its world famous nightlife, it is now time to shop some memoirs of this palm-fringed state. Silhouetted by the shacks and stalls of a bounty in trinkets, Goa indeed gives its guests a unique shopping experience. Every church and temple in this land of sun-kissed sands hosts an annual fair, which is indeed a great opportunity to pick up homemade pickels and cottage handicrafts. Almost all the lifestyle stores are housed in old Goan mansions which beside offering a wide range of classical and heritage artifacts have an A-list of devoted clientele. The vendors are locals and gypsy ladies called Lamanis, who wear colourful clothes and can stun you with their fluent English! What more could a shopaholic on vacation ask for?

Handicrafts At Its Best

The craftsmen in Goa steal the heart of nature and prepare exquisite materials which are impossible to bypass during your holiday stay. The handicrafts are made from the abundant natural raw material strewn all around its beaches and villages. Choose anything from ambrosial jewellery to terracotta wall hangings, coconut shell decors to brass lampshades, and we can bet that they will enthrall you. This is also a wonderful place to pick up fine embroidery and lace, a legacy of the Portuguese, now an indelible part of Goan tradition. Remember to get a few pieces of wooden lacquer articles decked in festive colours like green and red, called 'chitaris' prepared by master craftsmen from Cuncolim in South Goa. Gift your loved ones the head of Lord Ganesha or that of an old Goan man, made handsomely from coconut shells.

No doubt, the best places to pick up authentic Goan handicrafts at a resonable price are at the Government-run handicraft emporia across the state. Include in your shopping itinerary the Craft Complex at Panjim's Neogi Nagar. Here you can get beautiful handiwork of artisans from all over Goa, neatly packed in plastic and at a much cheaper price.

The Flea Market Extravaganza

Many of Goa's bigger villages are home to weekly 'haats' or bazaars, and some of them have smartly carved their own niche in international tourist circuit. You can trace your holiday shopping experience at the weekly Wednesday Flea Market at Anjuna. Nestling in the low lying areas near Little Anjuna Beach, the market is colourfully demarcated by bedsheets tied between coconut trees that serve as roofs for the numerous markets! The choice is eclectic -jewellery, linen, electronic goods, motorbikes, Balinese batik, mirror-worked waistcoats - and bargaining is mandatory. Beside getting a memorable shopping experience, tourists can also enjoy a good round of delicious food, exotic music and a magnificent riot of colours and lights that will make you come back for more!

Anjuna Beach Market , Goa

Shopping Beyond The Beaches

In Goa, every road leads to a beach and on every last leg of it, you will find lines of little shops selling everything from handicrafts to popular 'I Love Goa' T-shirts, sarongs and other momentos. For a fresh start, reach the Regal Arcade on the main Candolim Road. Here you can get exquisite leather goods - purses, wallets, belts and jackets - at 'Gossip'. A visit to Acron arcade, down the road, is a must for every visitor. You will be greeted with a glass facade and a sloping roof of Mangalore tiles which will lead you into a hall embellished with yellow Jaisalmer stone floor. Don't forget to buy a couple of Kashmiri carpets and shawls, that are a placard of Goan local market. Enjoy a delectable Goan cuisine at the numerous shops lining the road, perfect for taking a breather before getting back to a frantic shopping spree. Shopping in the latter part of the day can be quite an exhilariating experience on this stretch. Visit the famous night clubs - Club Tito and Cafe Mambo - nestling nearby for a perfect finale to an exciting shopping day.

Go Nuts With A Bottle of Fenny

Cashew nuts, said to be brought to Goa from Brazil sometime in the medieval era, now pepper the landscape of this palm-fringe state, and becomes a must buy for every tourist. One can get a wide variety of cashews - broken or whole, plain or salted - at the 'Kajuwalas' in Panjim. Next comes the mind-blowing aroma of feni, made from cashew juice and palm. Brands abound, but you will find the unbranded home-made variety more tasty. You can carry feni out of Goa's border, but you need a permit to do so which one can easily obtain from the liquor store itself. Fill your bags with a dozen packets of rechead, xacuti and cafreal masalas, typical Goan pastes for cooking fish and chicken, and you can relish the sea flavour of Goa even after reaching your lovely home. These come in plastic sealed packets with a shelf life of about 2-4 months and can be picked up at all food stores and supermarkets.