Day 2: Barginning for Treasure

After our tour of the Dubai Museum and learning about the country’s very old history, we took a water taxi and crossed the Dubai Creek to the Old part of Dubai.  Here, we learned about the different types of Souks in Dubai.   A Souk is a type of Arab market, and here in Dubai they have a Gold Souk, a Spice Souk, a Perfume Souk, and a Textile Souk.  Our tour guide also taught us that we can bargain down prices on any item we see at the souk.  We started off at the spice souk, and as soon as we got close, you can smell all the different spices in the air.  Anyone that cooks would love this souk.   As we entered, we were greeted with an overwhelming amount of different spices and fruits local to the city.  After we explored the spice souk, the gold souk was next.  Here, we saw why Dubai is nicknamed “the city of gold.”  As soon as we entered, the first jewelry store had the world’s largest gold ring on display. The ring weighs about 141 pounds and is valued over 3 million dollars!  

I was surprised to see no armed guards, no locked doors with buzzers to let you in, or any special security like in the U.S.  I only saw 2 normal police officers patrolling the entire market.  This shows you just how safe Dubai and the UAE is.  The walkways are lined with jewelry shops selling all kinds of gold, diamonds and stones.  It was very interesting to see how gold is available in almost every possible design and budgets in these shops. 

It was a fun and interesting experience walking through the souks as the shop owners call out to you inviting you to their shop.  They offer you products to entice you to buy.  Once in the shop, all the shop owners were extremely nice and helpful, and truly did come down in their prices after a little bargaining.  It was a great experience to see this part of Dubai, since it is not front and center in the videos and promotions I’ve seen for Dubai in preparing for this trip.  These souks are a very important part of the daily life and trade in Dubai.  You get a glimpse of the lives of these shop owners; the value of their wares is unimaginable.  It was a great experience, fun, and very interesting to see.

After we learned about Expo 2020, we went onto Jumeirah Palm.  This is a manmade island created off the coast of Dubai, in the Persian Gulf; it is shaped like a palm tree. The palm islands are considered the 8^th wonder of the world.  It was developed by a real estate company that is now owned by the government of Dubai, but the master plan was drawn up by an American architectural firm.  One of the main purposes of this project was to attract tourism.  There are more than 80 restaurants on the island, as well as luxury resorts, including Atlantis, and apartments and villas.  It is connected by a bridge to the mainland, and a monorail was also built to transport people to and from the island, to reduce traffic.  This project was a multi-billion-dollar project and is one of three Palm islands.  When I read about this island on the itinerary, I had never heard of it before, and after some research, I was extremely excited to see it in person.   This island keeps along with Dubai’s theme of being the best it can in everything they do, and this surely an amazing thing to see.

 We then concluded our tour with a stop at the Dubai Marina.  The first thing I noticed were the fascinating buildings that surrounded the marina.  Each skyscraper had a unique design, and luxury boats were sitting calmly in the water.  There were many restaurants surrounding it, including a mall and lots of shops.  

Overall, today has been a one of a kind experience.  We started off learning about this uniquely interesting country, its roots and deep history, and then put our bargaining skills to the test to bring home treasures in local products.  Then, we learned about Expo 2020, which is a record-breaking, highly anticipated expo with 192 countries participating.  We then ended our day with scenic and amazing views from the Jumeirah Palm and from the marina.