A Day Out

Today, I went down into the center of town. The old souks and historical areas are there. My intent was to go to the Dubai Museum and then possibly see some of the souks. However, I forgot that on Friday everything is closed. So, when I got down there, the only air conditioned buildings (the museum and historical center) were closed. But having got down there and found a parking place, I was determined to see some things - despite the heat. A small proportion of the souk shops were open and I took a wander. I was one of the few women out. The streets were heaving with Indian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan men. There were the occasional family or other western tourists - but as a western woman out on her own I got a huge amount of attention. Nothing that made me uncomfortable, just lots of guys trying to sell their stuff. So, now I know where the bargains and bargaining can be done in Dubai.
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Here's the Dubai Museum. It is an old fortress down at the port area of the city.

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Well, in case you were wondering, you can get Dickies in Dubai. Hee, hee.

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Last weekend, I went to the Mandinat Jumeriah. It is a luxury shopping mall designed to look like this. This is an old covered souk in the center of Dubai. The souks are divided into specialty areas. This souk specializes in Textiles. You can by lots more than that though. But most of the shops will sell fabrics and then you can have them tailored into a suit, sari, curtans, pillows, whatever.
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Here is the Gold souk. Just like it sounds, this souk specializes in gold, jewels, and pearls. I was also approached endlessly to buy fake handbags, watches, shirts, etc.

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A lot of the shops sell the traditional Arab costumes. These costumes are actually geared toward the tourist buyers. I had to take this picture because of the manequin. If you look closely, it is a small girl manequin with a mustache painted onto her face.

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Running through the center of Dubai is a "creek" (more like a river). There are souks on both sides. These boats are called Abras. They are essentially a water taxi. You just hop on and they will run you across the river. You can also rent one individually and get a river tour. I hoped on. The fare is 50 fils, but when I handed my dirham to the pilot, he didn't give me any change. I didn't argue though. One dirham is about 27 cents. Very affordable little trip across the creek.

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Here is an Abra station along the creek. In the background are more souks and what also look like apartments. The tower in the background is one of the mosques in the area. The shorter sqaure towers at the corners of the buildings are called wind towers. These are essentially natural air conditioners for the buildings. The tower catches the wind and directs it down into the center of the building, creating a breeze. It is actually quite comfortable - even on a blazing day like today.

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This is the Sheikh's royal palace along the creek. He actually has several homes. There is one south of town that stretches along the beach. Back in the "old days" (say 5 years ago) his beach house was out of town. Now, it is right in the middle of the city. I went down to that area, to see the new city that is being constructed down there. I didn't even bother to take pictures because there was NO WAY I could capture how unbelievable it is. First, they built a new harbor. Now, they are building a city around it. There are probably at least 100 new skyscraper apartment and office buildings that are either built or being built.