Dubai Update #3 – A day at the souqs (also spelled souks) – 27th December

The grandkids were not in the mood for being dragged around to satisfy the touring granparents, so Chris and I headed off to catch some of Dubai’s hidden treasures and historic culture which appears mainly to be the souqs in the old part of town.  A souq is a market place and they range from spices to textiles, gold and numerous other commodities.

We headed off to walk the 2km to the railway station from our daughters Villa.  Railway stations are an experience in themselves and Dubai’s ultra modern train service, that was completed in 2009 is brilliant. (and they use Myki cards!!).  No conductors, no train drivers, the trains are completely automated, and all of the train platforms and stations are fully air conditioned.  Oh, and by the way it’s cheap. In the photo below see the covered walkway across the 10 lane freeway to the ultra modern railway station. The walk way includes travelators and is also fully air condtioned.

Typical Dubai Railway Station

After we worked out which platform we need to be on to get to where we were going we duly arrived at our destination which included a change of trains to another line.

After alighting from the underground station we took a while to find the market places (souqs) but once we did they were endless, with lane-ways leading off in all directions .

Our first souq was the Spice Souq, while mainly wholesale in nature some were open for the sale of small quantities to individuals.  There was very little that could not be obtained ranging from exotic teas and Asian spices to frankincense.

Spice Shop

Textile Souk

To get to the heritage souq area on the opposite side of the river we either needed to catch the train (tunnel under the river) or catch a water taxi.  Opting for the latter at a cost of 1 Dirham (26 cents) we headed to the opposite side of the river. Once on shore we wandered around the textile and gold souqs, Christine purchasing herself a beautiful pure silk pashmina, for which bargaining was obligatory.

After a little more meandering we decided to take part in some lunch on the banks of Dubai “Creek”.

Great spot for lunch – a beer would have been nice though

After some lunch we took part in a little more window shopping down the myriad of back streets and alley ways, simply soaking in the atmosphere. Chris had a yen to find a railway station and head to the Dubai Mall which is part of the Burj Khalifa complex in the modern hi-rise part of town.  I also wanted to check out the Rockport Shop (shoes that are $200 in Aus are about $80 in Dubai).

After leaving our train (another change of trains required) we headed along the pedestrian over pass to the Dubai Mall. This walk-way consists of almost a km of travelators to help speed you to the shops.

The Dubai Mall is quite an amazing shopping mall and includes a huge 2 story high aquarium with the largest single sheet of glass in the world.  Apparently designed by the same guy who was involved in the Melbourne Aquarium.  There is also an Ice Skating rink in the mall, needless to say Chris and I  refrained from trying it out (a bit short of time).

The shopping centre has a vast outdoor area that includes a large water pool that normally has a musical fountain covering a few acres, but preparations for New Years Eve fireworks and entertainment sees the fountain temporarily shut down.  Hopefully the fountain will be back in operation  before we leave on the 28th January.

From the outside area we checked out the view of the Burj Khalifa building. This building is simply astonishing. All the photos that I have seen simply do not give you the sense of size that this building imparts when standing close to it.  It is enormous at 825m (thats not far short of a km), it is the tallest man made structure in the world. Photos of hi rise buildings are not usually my bag but I will make an exception for this one.  You can see the vast pool in the foreground that is normally the Musical Fountain.

Burj Khalifa

While we were checking out Burj Khalifa building, our daughter called us to let us know that she was out and about and she could pick us up if needed and as we had been walking most of the day, took her up on her offer.

This ended a wonderful day simply wandering around following our noses.

Tomorrow a rest day then a day in Abu Dhabi visiting the Grand Mosque and checking out the Camel festival.

Cheers,

Graham.