Shopping is still a mainly outdoor activity in Lakeside and Damside, where  laid-back curio stalls make a welcome change from the hard-driving salesmen  of Kathmandu, even if their prices and selection don't quite compare. Specialities include batiks, wooden flasks, dolls in ethnic dress and fossil-bearing shaligram stones from the Kali Gandaki.

. Hand-stitched waIl hangings in simple Tibetan designs have been produced for the tourist market, but are attractive nonetheless. Persuasive Tibetans peddle their wares in Lakeside's cafes, but these aren't produced locally, and carpets are best purchased at the Tibetan villages. Hand-knitted woollen sweaters, socks and such aren't of very good quality here, but may fit the bill for trekking. Kashmiris have colonized Lakeside, as they have Thamel, with boutiques touting "Asian" art: mainly high-priced carpets and cheap papier-mache and soapstone widgets.

Other than that, you1l find the usual range of tourist bait, most of it imported from Kathmandu: ritual masks, thangka, embroidered T-shirts , cloth bags and hippy clothes. Stalls along the strip opposite the palace are extremely competitive. The bookshops and stalls around Lakeside and Damside are individually small, but collectively they can muster a good selection. Pokhara's second-hand market is very good.

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