Magic Carpets

Magic carpets.

 

Whenever one goes on a trip to the middle east or far east, there is the obligatory stop in the carpet shop.  Usually these are the tour guides choice, with nice commissions, and  nice stuff, but often grossly overpriced.

 

For something special, we always look for a small place run by someone who takes pride in their product, and has a stake other than a paycheck in it.

 

On this trip,  in Jaipur, we came across a small carpet shop in the basement of our hotel, the "Country Inn & Suites", an odd name for something in the heart of a manic city.

 

The Le oriental Arts is run by Munueer, a young man from Kashmir who actually comes from a family of carpet makers. He explained carpet making to us, including the finer economic points, and how the business is changing in his native state.

 

We also got a good lesson on Kashmir itself, which is now on our to go list, hopefully next year.

 

As owners of hand made/knotted carpets from a half dozen places around the world, we can say that the Kashmir carpets are definitely in a class of their own.

 

We couldn't resist, and of course got another carpet. Hand knotted (not just hand made) silk, a real work of art and a thing of beauty. Great price too.  You definitely should stop by and talk to Munueer if you're in the neighborhood.