The Markets of New Delhi - Where the Bargains Are

Pinoys who love bargains and haggling (is this a redundant phrase or what?), listen up. These are the markets to go to when in New Delhi. You can ask your taxi driver or hotel personnel for directions. Don't be discouraged if you hear that the goods there are not of high quality. They're fine. Just be ready to do some searching and haggling.

1) Sarojini - we got some silk materials which are usually made into 3 piece suits (that's what they call it -- their long blouse, pants, and shawl outfit) and saris by Indian women. For 6 meters, we paid about P340. Not bad, huh - even by Manila standards. We likewise got some printed cotton blouses for as low as P60 and costume jewelry at unbelievably low prices.

2) Dilli Haat - you'll have to pay an entrance fee of 10 rupees (about P12) to get into this bazaar/tiangge-like open-air establishment. We got some nice printed or embroidered shawls, handpainted prints for framing, and some men's shirts.

3) Janpath Market - you can find some nicely embroidered cotton blouses (some with small mirrors) with prices ranging from P120 to P170. There are likewise skirts, shirts, and nice paper/giftbags/statio.

Be prepared to haggle. The prices don't go down that much though. In our case, we were able to bring down the price of the fabrics from 400 to 300 rupees or the price of some blouses from 150 rupees to 100 or 120. A word of caution: Too much haggling can be draining and hazardous to your health. So think about it - do you really want or need that item you are holding?

Coming Soon: How to deal with hawkers

Related Links

Janpath Kiss (a novel)
India Travel Books
DVD - A Passage To India
DVD - Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India

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