Old Dubai


Great weekend exploring new places in Dubai. Spent half a day in “Old Dubai” and later ventured into the Global Village (next post). Above, you see various spices displayed en masse in the spice souk, the Arabic word for market or bazaar.  Old Dubai is the historic district as the name implies. We left the skyscrapers behind for the day and explored the roots of this country at the center of its trading port. Interesting that there is no oil here, nor much of any natural resources for that matter, making the Dubai success story all the more impressive.  They created this place as a center of trade.  As early as 1906, the sheik declared it a free trade zone with no taxes/tariffs.  Pretty much the theme to this day.  It has become the Switzerland of the Middle East.  For Star Wars fans, this is the desert planet of Tatooine.

Al Fahidi Fort, central to the defense of the old city

The Arabian Tea Room. This is a thing. Everyone goes here, even Martha Stewart!


The Old Souk in old Dubai . . . .

Tower of the Grand Mosque

Prior to the development of cultured pearls in the twentieth century, much of Dubai’s economy revolved around pearl diving. They would grab a rock, hold their breathe, and drop 100ft + to the bottom to collect the potential pearl oysters. 



This is a wind tower, a clever way to vent the homes, pre-air conditioning. Many old homes have this feature. 

A watch tower 

Infinity Bridge with Dubai Creek in the foreground

The abra boats from old Dubai to Deira, the neighborhood on the opposite side of Dubai Creek.  The abras are basically ferries and only cost 1 Dirham to ride (roughly $0.25 or 1/4 Euro)



The souks in Deira


    

Comments

  1. I had no idea....this is very interesting. Love all the spices!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, a whole year went by and we had never been here!

      Delete
  2. Greg, c'est très intéressant tout cela.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had also a wonderful time there and loved very much the little boatride

    ReplyDelete

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