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Travel Related
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SHOPPING |
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For many visitors, shopping is the main reason to come to Panamá,
and today people from all over Latin America and the Caribbean come here
to buy consumer goods - electronics, designer fashion, jewellery - which
are available here at a lower cost and in greater variety than elsewhere
in the region. You can buy almost anything you might want in the bazaars
and superstores of Panamá City, often at a lower price than in Europe or
the US, and the country is also home to the second largest duty-free
zone in the world: the Colón Free Zone . Goods from all over the world
are traded here in vast quantities, and though most business is in bulk,
you can find good bargains (though you may have to pay duty when you
return home).
Panamá also produces some beautiful handicrafts . The most famous and
exceptional are the molas - brightly coloured cotton cloths intricately
decorated with abstract designs created by a system of reverse-appliqué
- made by the Kuna people. The mola has become something of a national
symbol and are sold all over the country. The Emberá-Wounaan in Darién
produce exquisite carvings in wood or tagua (a palm seed known as "vegetable
ivory"), mostly of birds and rainforest animals, while the artisans of
western Panamá, and in particular those of the Azuero Peninsula, produce
a wide range of handicrafts including pottery, lurid fiesta masks,
leatherwork, and straw sombreros. The brightly coloured dresses and
fibre shoulder bags ( chacaras ) of the Ngobe-Buglé people also make
beautiful and practical souvenirs. Sadly, authentic Panama hats come
from Ecuador.
Almost all these handicrafts are available in Panamá City, in shops and
in cooperative artesanía markets (listed in the guide), but of course if
you have the time it's much more rewarding (and cheaper) to buy them
from the artisans themselves.
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