Four of us, Maggie, Lally, Lorene and I, went to Laxmi Road today, a renowned shopping area in the center of Pune. A short 50 rupee auto rickshaw ride delivered us into a mass of humanity and shops.
It was crowded, not a Western face in the mix, in the street and in the shops. We ducked into one of the pedestrian only streets, which at least eliminated the rickshaw, bus and motorcycle traffic. There are tiny shops, their goods spilling out the door onto carts and displays. There are kitchen goods, flowers, saris, bindis, shoes, scarves, purses, jewelry, clothes, underwear, make-up and more for sale.
One website reports that Laxmi Road is four kilometers long. Although it felt like we walked that far, I’m sure we saw only a fraction of the area. It is an easy place to get lost in. Luckily once out to a busy street there are plenty of rickshaws to whisk us back over to our home base.
