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A shoe lover’s walk along Laxmi Road and Kasba Peth
Our street is one of the oldest shopping streets in Pune. A morning route through it, with places to eat and things to see.
Laxmi Road runs east to west through the old city, and on a weekday morning it is the best way to see how Pune still shops. Start early, before 11 am, when the shutters are going up and the traffic is light.
Begin at the Kasba Ganpati temple, the oldest in the city, and walk south into Kasba Peth. The lanes here still hold copper and brass workshops, and you will hear the hammering before you see them. Turn onto Laxmi Road and you are among the sari houses, many of them over 70 years old; look up at the carved wooden balconies above the shop fronts.
Our shop is at number 17. If you come in, ask to see the back room, where two karigars are usually stitching soles. You are welcome to stand on the foot board and have both feet measured, whether you buy or not. It takes five minutes.
From here, Tulshibaug is a short walk away for steel vessels, brass lamps and puja things. For lunch, the small Maharashtrian thali places around Budhwar Peth serve pithla bhakri and sol kadhi for under ₹200. Wear comfortable shoes, of course. The pavements are uneven, and the whole loop is about 3 km. On Sundays many shops shut by 4 pm, so Saturday is the better day.
