The best fashion and gift stores Nepal

It's more a succession of stands on a tiny surface than a market (let's be clear!). An excellent place to find a more or less unusual or traditional memory. Think about trading.

If you're looking for a book about the Himalayas, this is the place to go! Unquestionably the best bookstore in Kathmandu, ravaged by a fire but rebuilt and still as rich as ever with references on Nepal and Tibet. There are also quite a few books on trekking, Buddhism, Hinduism, yoga, Central Asia, local cuisine, or even indigenous flora and fauna. The adjoining café-restaurant is very nice. Some handicrafts are also on sale: postcards, rare books..

This recently opened boutique stands out from the swarms of small shops on Lakeside because it doesn't sell counterfeit trekking clothes, singing bowls or yak wool scarves. Craft laya is a fair trade boutique offering only beautifully crafted objects made in Pokhara, by women in the surrounding community villages. True Fair Trade, highly recommended for good gift ideas (scarves, clutches, bags, etc.). They are surprisingly inexpensive for the quality on offer.

The elaborate facade, lined with green plants, makes you want to enter this pretty café. You can stop in for a cup of tea or an organic coffee from a local farm. A small shop selling woven cotton products and local crafts offers great gift ideas. We love the brightness of the place with bay windows, the Zen atmosphere and the delicious 100% vegetarian food, including light and tasty vegan cakes. The omnipresent plants on the shelves and throughout the space, combined with the wooden furniture, offer a soothing space.

This is a must-visit store in Patan, where you'll find handicrafts of the highest quality. And with good reason: ancestral techniques from the Himalayas for making products from natural and organic materials are showcased here, through a collection of objects. Carved wooden kitchen accessories, leather goods in local cotton and leather bags, basketry, handmade stationery... Some are made from wild Himalayan nettle fiber called Allo, spun entirely by hand for fabric.

Traditional Nepalese musical instruments are hard to find. In addition to the large Asan Tole market in Kathmandu, where you can find an area with craftsmen dedicated to the manufacture and repair of harmoniums, tablas and madals, there's this small specialized store in Patan where the people speak English, making it easier to find what you're looking for! You can even buy an ek tar, the highly decorative carved wooden instrument played by sadhus.

In this store in Patan's chic district, you'll find bags, notebooks, scarves, jewelry, ceramics and many other beautifully crafted objects made by Nepalese artisans. Only "fair trade" products are sold here, so you'll be contributing to a responsible local economy. This store is a good solution if you want to bring back a few objects or gifts in your suitcase. You'll be greeted with a smile, and the sales clerks are happy to provide explanations. Prices here are fixed and reasonable enough to warrant a visit.

A small, friendly place where you can find quality singing bowls. Each bowl has a tone corresponding to a chakra (head, throat, belly, etc.), but also according to your astrology. Here, Bikash demonstrates the vibrations and "songs" of the bowls, which are handmade using an ancestral (and secret) alloy of 7 metals, known in the Himalayas. Some are more recent, others older (and more expensive). In singing bowl therapy and meditation, the 7 chakra tones resonate.

This former Rana palace, built around five small courtyards each leading to a maze of alleyways, is home to a host of luxurious boutiques and artisanal stores, galleries and chic restaurants. Prices are as high as the place itself: top-of-the-range. Even if your budget doesn't allow you to splurge on a cashmere scarf, a piece of jewelry or a flamboyant piece of furniture, the complex itself is well worth a visit and a stroll. The peace and quiet found here is a real luxury, and you're never far from discovering a hidden gem.

Singing/healing bowls are hard to choose. These Nepalese singing bowls, made from an undisclosed alloy of seven metals, are used to vibrate the body's seven chakras in Hindu religion and meditation practice. This boutique sells hand-made Nepalese products (nothing to do with the industrial bowls sold as souvenirs), some recent, others very old. The store also sells pashmina fabrics and jewelry in silver and local gemstones, Patan's specialty.

This alleyway is commercial and somewhat touristy. A particularity: almost all the shops are called Peacock (?). They offer many products and handicrafts: traditional handmade masks, Himalayan tea, thangkas and many other souvenirs. They are especially popular for their wood carvings, which are very well finished. But we also come here to have a good time of discovery. The sellers are, as expected, multilingual. Don't hesitate to haggle with a smile...

South of Thamel, the bazaar of Asan Tole is more a succession of stands than a market. You can find everything: fruits and vegetables, teas, meats, copper utensils, sculptures, singing bowls, jewellery, spices, trekking equipment... not always made in Tibet (check the provenance as much as possible and negotiate firmly!). We will come more for the rather unique atmosphere than to do business. A must-see walk that will often take you to hidden temples.

A shop as there is a lot in Pokhara, but that is well filled. Here you will find beautiful postcards, maps and geographical maps of Nepal (and even surrounding areas) as well as detailed tourist maps of Pokhara and its region: if you want to take a walk to Sarangkot! Also some second hand books. Note: here you will find stamps to stamp your letters and especially a mailbox (in red, at the entrance).

Here's a real concept store that has nothing to envy of the designer boutiques of Paris or New York, except that here the prices are more than affordable for a French wallet. It has a French name, which is so chic, but only sells beautifully crafted Nepalese products. Starting with magnificent ceramics from the factory in the pottery village of Thimi near Bhaktapur, and beautiful stationery and Woven kits in Nepalese cotton and buffalo leather. We warn you, we want to buy everything.

Only 5 minutes walk from the French Embassy (you have to go 50m past the Lazimpat Café Gallery), this fair trade shop produces, markets and exports Nepalese handicrafts. Each purchase from Mahaguthi directly helps those involved in the supply and production chain (most often women and workers from remote areas): 68% of sales go to the artisans of the products.

If the store does not shine by its organization, its shelves offer a more extensive choice of novels than in other bookstores.

Just opposite the stupa, in the Paradise Café building, take the stairs, climb one floor and you will come across a 100% local clothing shop: Drichu. Founded by Pema, this Nepalese brand produces clothes and accessories (dresses, scarves, jackets, bags ...) made with hand looms and sewn on old traditional sewing machines from fabrics woven in Nepal, linen, yak wool ... The designer has many ambitions for her brand but with a highly artisanal approach.