Best Mumbai shops for travelers

Everyone's looking for the same things from Mumbai shops: scarves, sandals, spiritual enlightenment. But no one wants to head home looking like every other Om-stamped chump who set foot on the subcontinent.

The merchandise in these 10 exemplary stores and markets makes it hard to decide what to gift and what to keep for yourself. Don't worry, locals have the same problem.

Bombay Electric: Quirky pashmina scarf

You’re probably looking for a scarf of the sought-after pashmina variety. They make a great gift for a guy or a girl. But you're probably also worried about agonizing over percentages of cashmere in some backroom gallery.

In Mumbai, skip the classic egg hunt and go straight for gold.

Our favorites are Anupamaa’s cashmere scarves available at Bombay Electric in colorful tie-dyes and fun prints (approximately Rs 10,500) which manage to be both "Bombay" and totally electric.

If you do want a more understated option, browse through Bombay Electric’s extensive scarf racks.

Good luck choosing, each stole is cozier and lovelier than the last.

Some favorites include Kashmir Loom’s rainbow stripe pashmina, Women Weave’s handmade khadi scarves, and the aptly-named Pashmina’s insanely soft cashmere in an array of delicate shades (Rs 8,000-12,000).

Bombay Electric, 1 Reay House, Best Marg, Colaba; +91 (0) 22 2287 6276

Anupam Chappals: Kohlapuri in your color

We all have a crush, men and women alike, on kohlapuris -- the handy toe-ringed leather chappals, or slippers.

They’re comfortable (once worn in), they’re iconically Indian and they’re versatile enough to take home and wear daily. And they’re everywhere.

Sold in every corner of every market of Mumbai, not to mention upscale versions in fancy shoe stores.

So where to go?

Anupam Chappals in Colaba Causeway, just south of the Nike Mumbai shop, is famous for its walls lined with the cheap chappals in almost every color imaginable.

These are the real deal -- stitched, instead of glued, for longer life.

Expect to pay about Rs 200-250 per pair. Or, if you want to skip haggling altogether, head around the corner to Joy Shoes at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel shopping arcade.

They sell a simple, elegant version of the shoe and will custom dye the leather in any color you like.

Anupam Chappals, Citywalk House, Next to Citywalk Shoes, Colaba Causeway, Colaba; +91 98207 78409

Joy Shoes, Taj Mahal Palace, P J Ramchandani Marg, Apollo Bandar; +91 (0) 22 22028696

Le Mill: Enamel bowls and boxes

If you’ve taken a couple spins around Mumbai, you’ve seen the stacked tiffins that workers use to carry their lunch.

Generally these lunchboxes are metal, but if you’re lucky you may catch sight of one of the beautiful blue or green enamel versions.

Buy your own at Le Mill. Mumbai’s new hot-topic concept store stocks the tiffins, as well as lovely enamel salad bowls in various sizes and colors (Rs 350 for a medium).

And while you’re at it, stick around at Le Mill and enjoy one of the delicious dishes at their café (recommended: the shredded beef salad with mint and pomegranate, Rs 375).

Le Mill, 17-25 Nandlal Jani Road, Wadi Bunder, next to Wadi Bunder New Railway Bridge; +91 (0)22 2374 2415

Colaba Causeway and Vile Parle market: Oodles of bangles

Start with Popli & Sons in Colaba, where you’ll find a range of delectable bangles and baubles, including beautiful wooden cuffs with enamel inlays.

Prices run from Rs 250 upwards, but you might be able to bargain down if you’re buying a bunch.

Bombay Electric’s in-house brand, Ghee Butter, also makes spanking fun styles. Look out for their bright, rhinestone-encrusted wooden bangles, or the simpler enamel bracelets tipped in a burnished gold.

However, if what you want is quantity over quality, your best bet is to wander up and down Colaba Causeway bargaining for loads of pretty glass bangles at amazingly cheap prices.

Or, to beat tourist prices, hop into a taxi and head up north to Vile Parle market, where your bangle wish is their command and you’ll find practically any glitzy style you can imagine in these Mumbai shops.

Be forewarned -- the quality matches the price and glass bangles can break before your plane touches down back home.

More on CNNGo: Best Mumbai jewelers: 1 day itinerary

Popli & Sons, Readymoney Building, Battery Street, Apollo Bunder, behind Regal Cinema, next to Gordon House Hotel, Colaba; +91 (0) 22 2202 1694

Chor Bazaar: Classic Bollywood film poster 

Welcome to Mumbai’s famed Chor Bazaar, the market of thieves, home to heaps of wonderful and neglected objects -- old rotary phones, Coca-Cola coolers, wicker picnic baskets, massive carved Ganeshas.

If you’re willing to hunt through the flotsam and jetsam you’ll find something worth carting home, guaranteed.

If you’re tight on time or baggage allowance, look for the singular pop of the Bollywood poster at the following Mumbai shops.

First, head to Mini Market, where, if you’re lucky, you’ll be greeted by owner Aziz Mansoori, who has been manning the shop for 32 years.

He specializes in Raj-era sepia reprints of maharajas, and hilarious Polaroid photos shot on Bollywood sets in the 1970s.

For big and modern posters, head down the street to A-1 Corner. If the usual "Sholay" and "Mother India" movie poster prints don’t suffice, ask to be taken to the back room.

Posters go for approximately Rs 300 each.

Mini Market, 31 Mutton St., Chor Bazaar

A-1 Corner, 99 Mutton St., Chor Bazaar