3.Souks - 15/01/09

We woke up refreshed and ready to hit the beach - but the weather was not quite ready for us. We went to the beach anyway, despite the windiness and lack of sunrays.

As I have expressed before, in Dubai one must take note of the common courtesy 'rules':

"Dressing for the occasion. When on the beach and at Dubai's water-parks, swimwear can be considered appropriate and therefore will not cause a problem. Nevertheless away from the beach and other such environments, dressing in such a way can cause offense to the many Muslims in Dubai. It is also worth noting that it is also not appropriate for men to go around without a top on away from the beach. When out in other public areas, dress in a more conservative manner" rules-in-dubai webpage described.

Furthermore - one is not allowed taking photos of the people; Islamic men do not really go to the beach with their woman; they have seperate days that they are allowed to go to the beach.

       
                                                                                       Dubai Beaches
After spending the morning at this lovely beach, we decided to put our jerseys on and rather go do some shopping in the famous souks!

On our way back to our hotel we were admiring the air-conditioned bus stops. pretty cool huh?

To get to the souks we had to take a dhow (a small vessel that can take about 20 people) to cross the creek to the other side. In my personal opinion that dhow looked way too small for 20 people and it looked and felt more like a raft!!

                                                        On the dhow: below.

The Souqs (Arabic: سوق, also soq, souk, esouk, suk, sooq, souq, or suq) - Wikipedia

The term, souk, is often used to describe the open-air market in any Arabized or Muslim city. We went to the Perfume Souk and Gold Souk, but there are other souks as well. For further information on souks click: Dubai Souks

This is like any other flea market that we are used to. The key to getting what you want, at a price that you feel comfortable with, is: BARTER. Play the shops off against each other. Do not just buy what you want in the first shop, because trust me, around the corner you will get it for half the price! Be aware that some can be fake, even perfumes. The handbags are definitely fake, BUT good fakes and you do not even find fakes in South Africa of Versace or D&G and all those famous Italian names. We got a few perfumes and of course I got a handbag... or two. Souk Pics

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