Old Dubai

 Beautiful wood carved floating staircase in the Marina Mall

Breathtaking wood atrium lined with restaurants and leading to food court.

The Dubai Museum is housed within the Al Fahid Fort which was originally built in 1787 to defend the Emiratis against invasion.

Traditional boating vessels

The museum's exhibits and film presentations trace the city's meteoric development from a small desert settlement to the center of Arabian commerce, finance, and tourism.

Wooden Dhow in the background upon exiting the museum.

Bustling Dubai Creek in Old Dubai

A stroll through the gold souq (market) reveals storefronts full of gold jewelry. The light reflecting on these brilliant displays was blinding at night.

The gold inventory extends past the storefront.

Old Dubai Souq. This is where the wheeling and dealing happens. The vendors are ridiculously, aggressive, but you can get good deals if you're comfortable negotiating and willing to walk away. There are so many vendors selling similar items that the buyer has the advantage if you're willing to leverage it.

After an exhaustive negotiating session with this vendor, we did purchase some spices. The rule of thumb is to aim for a 40% - 50% discount from the original price. We were successful in getting a 60% - 70% discount in our negotiations so we did pretty well.

This vendor was pretty funny and did his best to persuade me to buy this head wrap. Note that he's wearing my hat as he conducts his demonstration. 😁

 

Final look. He didn't close the sale, but the experience was pretty fun.

Crystal shopping for a pashmina. Expertly tied by our astute salesman.

Working on an add on sale

  

A discerning shopper leafing through the fabric. Note that the salesman has tied a different pashmina around Crystal's neck at this point in our visit.

          

I don't think Crystal is buying what he's selling. 

  

 

We have a winner. This pashmina goes home with us after another round of tough negotiating.

Wind towers were an architectural element of Arabic housing. They were designed to deflect the air down to cool the rooms below. Sometimes water was thrown on the floor beneath the towers to cool the room further.

Merchandise being loaded and unloaded along the Dubai creek port in old Dubai.

The sun has set on Old Dubai.