Shasak

Where would you go on a shopping spree?

The most beautiful place on the earth gives immense musing in shopping. Anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir but Lal Chowk in Srinagar is paramount. Various things can be availed at a reasonable price pre-conditionally you possess good negotiation skills.

My personal experience at Jammu Katra and in Srinagar is an all-star example. The local population has had a limited source of income until now. Cross-border terrorism in the state badly affected the tourist inflow in the past years resulting in a drastic decline in every business attached to it. The tense environment has changed in the last couple of years and the military supremacy of the Indian side has restored favorable growth in the state.

Saffron produced in the Kashmir valley is of the topmost quality. Annually it supplies over 10 tonnes of saffron which is sold at about $3650 per kilogram in the international markets. Lal Chowk is a place where we find the original saffron in the queues of the retail and wholesale stores. Every sip of milk bowl at home boiled in Kashmiri saffron tastes magnificent.

Mamara almonds and the different qualities of walnuts will be the next item on the shopping list in Lal Chowk. Both of these dry fruits have amazing credits for hallmarks and are priced at about $10 to $16 per kilogram and $7 to $20 respectively. 

Did you ever come across a vegetable market in the waters? Dal Lake in Srinagar hosts a green market early in the morning. Fruits vegetables and flowers are dumped on the Shikara shops floating on the water. Isn’t it a unique purchase between 5 to 7 am when the sun’s rays are just to roll over the gradients of the encompassing mountains? Other shops here sell readymade garments, handicrafts, and a lot of Kashmiri specialties.

You can find the market here flooded with Pashmina and silk shawls, carpets, blankets, woolen caps, jackets, and sweaters plenty in quantity and quality. A trip to Kashmir would print lifelong memories of beauty and taste onto the minds and hearts of an individual.