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 If you are in
Karachi for a short
visit, a most
pleasant way to
spend a few hours is
by visiting its
shopping bazaars.
Karachi is littered
with bazaars which
sell every
imaginable item, at
bargain prices. A
large number of
these bazaars are
situated in Old
Karachi, where they
have expanded in a
seemingly chaotic,
organic fashion. The
shops are generally
small and cramped
and fill up the
ground floors of
quaint buildings.
The narrow streets
in front are made
even narrower by the
wares spilling out
into them, and by
stalls set up in the
middle of the
streets. Vehicular
traffic plies in the
narrow by-lanes, but
with great
difficulty. If you
decide to drive
through these lanes,
be prepared to make
way for lorries,
vans, donkey carts,
and......camels!
Experienced shoppers
park their cars on
the main roads, and
then explore these
bazaars on foot. In
most of these
streets such as the
ones which make up
Bohri Bazaar,
traffic is purely
pedestrian.
In sharp contrast to
the bazaars of the
old city, are the
modem shopping areas
of Clifton, Old
Clifton and Zamzama
Boulevard. The roads
are wide, and the
shops in modem
shopping centers
sell imported and
good quality local
items. The prices
are generally higher
as well. Yet another
major shopping area
can be found on
Tariq Road.
Relatively modem
(when you compare it
to old city
bazaars), and again
with all kinds of
local and imported
goods available—at
reasonable prices.
Smaller centers are
found in other
Societies' Area e.g.
Bahadurabad.
Old City Bazaars
Saddar Shopping
Tariq Road Shopping
Clifton & Zamzama Shops
Jummah Bazaars
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