Shopping and Goa go hand in hand. All you need is good bargaining skills and you can go home with a trunk full of souvenirs and curios. A lot of Kashmiri shops are lined all across Goa shop for your wooden articles, silks and embroidered stuff here. The best place to buy all of these is the flea markets. If you are at Mapusa, make it a point to visit the Friday market open between 8 am and 2 pm. In Anjuna, the Wednesday flea market is famous. And don't forget to bargain on anything you buy, because the flea market thrives on bargains! Or head to Ingo's Saturday night bazaar, but everything is a shade costlier here. At any of Goa's flea markets you will see stalls selling everything from futuristic gear to hammocks that you can string up between two palm trees on the nearby beach. It's a wonderful place to meet people from all over the world as well as Rajasthanis, Gujaratis, Tibetans -- even Karnataka farmers with "fortune-telling" cows; it's a bit like London's Camden, but everyone's tanned and the weather's almost always wonderful. Speak to the Indian village folk here, they are quiet a treat, dressed in their village finery they will converse with you in British or American English, right down to the perfect accents! Besides the vibrant markets, Casa Goa is a stylish boutique featuring designer wear by celebrated Goan designer Wendell Roderick's, as well as local artwork, silk drapes, and a variety of antiques (Baga Road). Then take a look at Leela Art Palace (Khobro Waddo; tel. 98-2213-5370). Also in Calangute, Subodh Kerkar Art Gallery, run by Goa's well-known watercolorist, showcases contemporary Indian art including ceramics, hand-painted chests, and Rajasthani sculptures (Gaurowaddo; tel. 0832/227-6017). Based in a 200-year-old Portuguese mansion, Sangolda is the house wares boutique venture by the dynamic duo behind the boutique hotel Nilaya Hermitage; here you can shop for unusual home accessories and furniture sourced from all over India -- from Kerala rattan loungers to Rajasthani chests. Attached is a gallery-cum-coffee shop (Chogm Road., Sangolda; tel. 0832/227-6793). If you're not traveling north, Kashmir House is another must. Known for its fabulous collection of jewelry, gems, leather goods, "Ardebil" carpets, marble artifacts, sterling silver, papier-mache trinkets, and 100% Pashmina shawls, it's located in both north Goa (opposite Taj Holiday Village; tel. 0832/227-6072) and south Goa (Carpet House, Goa Renaissance Resort; tel. 0832/274-5201). The people of Goa are very good at making showpieces out of natural stuff like coconut husk or palm leaves. Goan workers are also experts at creating wooden articles that are lacquered in festive colors like red, green, yellow and white. These master craftsmen come from Cuncunolim, South Goa. These colorful items are called chitari. Check them out at the local handicrafts store. But the best shopping can be done on the roads of Calangute, Candolim and the beach stretch of Colva, this is where you can pick up all your tiny little gifts for your friends back home, its this shopping that's regarded as proper Goan buys. You can actually get the best silver wear here!