So let’s begin with the little teaser I left you with in my last blog post. Shakira. Apparently, it’s Ashley’s new name. We found out about her apparent name change when we visited the souks, which are basically large marketplaces filled with many booths selling everything from gold to spices to clothing to ceramics to just general souvenir junk. These are some photos that I took at the spice souk.
We visited two different souks while in Dubai - and “different” is a good word to sum up the experiences we had at each one. The first souk was a little classier - think upscale souvenir junk. Just our kind of place. It wasn’t very crowded and the vendors were not at all aggressive and let us shop in peace. I was specifically looking for a decorative dallah, a traditional Arabic coffee pot, to bring home as my knickknack souvenir from Dubai and I found it there, along with a matching teacup and saucer.
From there we went to the spice souk, which was a totally different experience. The vendors are SUPER aggressive. You literally can’t move two inches without ten men shouting at you to get you to come into their booths. They are shoving samples of spices and who knows what in your face and saying, “What do you smell? What do you smell?” I really wanted to ask about some of the items in the spice baskets. I especially wanted to know what the light blue stones were and what the yellow stuff that looks like giant chalk sticks was, but it was more than my life was worth to ask. We would have been dragged into their shops and we’d probably still be there negotiating a price for things we didn’t even want to buy. These vendors are so aggressive because competition is fierce. You have a hundred-plus vendors all selling variations of the same stuff and they all want you to buy from them. And heaven help you if you do buy something from someone. Then you immediately have 14 people from other booths shoving similar merchandise in your face as if you’d be thrilled to buy the same thing 14 more times. Added to all this chaos was what became the constant wolf song of “Shakira! Shakira!” They weren’t yelling this at me, they weren’t yelling this at Jill and they weren’t yelling this at my mom. They were yelling this at Ashley. Relentlessly. If Mom, Jill and I were having things thrust at us, Ashley was having things thrust at her 20 times as much. “Shakira, what do you smell?” “Shakira, come here!” “Shakira, come inside. I want to show you something.” “Shakira, will you marry me?” Apparently, calling someone “Shakira” is the equivalent calling them “pretty lady” and the souk hucksters were drawn to Ashley like bees to honey. She had no less than ten marriage proposals in the hour we were there. Don’t worry. Mama bear was standing by with the pedophile stick if anyone got truly out of line, but the cub has learned her lessons well and had no trouble fending the wolves off all on her own. Overall, it was an interesting experience and I got a great deal on a beautiful shawl wrap (75% off the asking price!) because I can be just as aggressive at bargaining and holding my ground as they are and I’m not afraid to walk away and let them chase me down if they really want to make the sale. No chase, no sale is fine with me too. If it’s something I really want, someone else no doubt has it and will probably be more than willing to wheel and deal to separate me from my money.
We had booked a dinner cruise on a dhow boat for that evening. Dhow boats have been used for centuries to transport people and goods across the Dubai Creek, a channel of water that cuts through Dubai, originating and ending in the Arabian Gulf. Some of the dhows have been made over into dinner cruise boats and while the food served was a mediocre glutenfest, the views of Dubai more than made up for what dinner lacked.
One thing that I especially enjoyed about Dubai is that the buildings there are fantastic. It’s like they have some sort of ongoing contest to see who can create the most unique or over-the-top design. Below are some photos I was able to take as we traveled around the area. I apologize in advance for the crazy window glare in some of them. I did the best I could while riding around in taxis driven by super aggressive ex-pats who all seemed to be auditioning for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. (I think I have taxi PTSD)
And apparently Abu Dhabi is not to be outdone by Dubai. They have their own over-the-top style which includes mainstream as well as futuristic designs.
This building was constructed to resemble a dirham coin. It won an international award in 2008 for best futuristic design.
And after the Burj Khalifa, the buildings below have to be one of my favorites. Known as the pineapple buildings, these buildings are covered by fully automatic shutters that close when in direct sunlight and open as the building falls into shadow. These building officially get the International With4YouGetEggroll Coolest Building Award.
If you look at the left side of the buildings, you can see the open shutters. Totally automatic. Totally cool.
And if we’re talking about ridiculous futuristic design, I must include an arial shot of Abu Dhabi’s Ferrari World, the world’s largest indoor amusement park. This picture comes courtesy of arabian-adventures.com.
It was an amazing trip full of amazing sights and experiences. Dubai is larger than life and a really great time. We hit it at the perfect time of year. The temperatures were mid 70s to low 80s every day and the humidity wasn’t bad. From April through November the place is hotter than hot (up to 119 degrees) and the humidity is around 97 percent. Miserable doesn’t even begin to describe it, as our friends Brenda and Toni can attest. Fortunately, the coronavirus load there is very light compared to California and many other countries so hopefully that, along with the precautions we took, worked in our favor. The next two weeks will tell. No idea when or where the next adventure will be. Time and world conditions will tell. In the meantime, hope everyone out there stays healthy and virus-free.
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