Home accessories

There's nothing quite like ODEL in Colombo, an old colonial house transformed into an enchanting department store, for unusual soaps and bath salts as well as photoframes and kitchen articles, like plates, trays, spoons, bowls, etc, that have been handcrafted using spices, coconut shell and fibre.

And if you are visiting the Shopper's Mecca, namely Dubai, the IKEA store (in the picture) there will charm you more than the gold souks will.

Even while you are tempted to ship the whole store back home, picking up a couple of lamps and vases is not a bad idea.