Today was tour day. DG arranged with the front desk to assign me to one of the city tours, this one going to the souqs. I was perfectly happy with this arrangement since it was touristy and DG was obviously not a tourist. I want to note that this situation -- me being a tourist and him being a local -- did have its downsides, in that oftentimes I felt uncomfortable snapping pictures while in DG's company, which led to me not having many photos. I didn't want to appear to be a dumb American tourist taking pictures of things that he sees everyday. In hindsight I see that was a mistake because I was a tourist. But at the time I was laboring under the burden of showing him my gratitude and I didn't want to embarrass him in any way.

The tour was via a typical double decker bus. I took the top level and came to regret that. I wouldn't have been surprised to have been informed that the temperature was 120F that day. It was unbelievably scorching. But I didn't want to sit in the enclosed bottom level because I wanted to see everything. The price of tourism, I suppose.

The Dubai Courts. You'd better kiss your ass goodbye if you ever find yourself here. The Mid East is not where you want to be accused of a crime, no matter how slight or fabricated. In Dubai they have debtor's prison, and many people, both locals and expats, have been thrown in prison for debts arising out of joblessness. It's not uncommon for employers who believe their employees are about to quit to seize their employees' passports, thus preventing them from leaving the country and forcing them to continue working for them. This forces the employee to either hide out in the country or try to sneak out. I've read about people escaping Dubai in dinghys.

Part of the tour included the museum, formerly Al Fahidi Fort. The museum is the 200 year-old restored Palace of Sheikh Saeed. There were some interesting exhibits about Dubai's former existence as a fishing and pearl diving village.

The tour included a walk through some of the traditional neighborhoods, called the Bastakiya district, the oldest part of the city. Here you'll find traditional Arabian architecture, cafes, and small art galleries. While we were walking, one of my favorite events happened: the Adhan or Azan, which is the Muslim call to prayer. This occurs five times a day and is broadcast through minarets such as the one you see here. I heard it first in Agra, at the Taj Mahal, and was practically brought to tears by how beautiful it sounds. When I heard it here, I wanted to stop and just savor it. To me, it's absolutely magical to hear that exotic voice floating through the air, calling the faithful to prayer. It's a sort of haunting yet romantic call, making me think of sand dunes and palm trees, incense and spice. I get chills when I hear it and I can't stop smiling.

Here you can see a wind tower, that square structure on the right with the wooden poles sticking out of it. This is a traditional means of air conditioning a building.

The crescent moon (and star) is an important symbol in the Islamic religion, harkening back to the days of Constantinople.

Look at this gorgeous mosque. This is what I love about the Middle East and India. The ornate detail is just breathtaking.

Our walk took us parallel to the Dubai Creek near the Arabian Gulf.

After finishing up with the Bastakiya, we arrived at the water taxi (abra) station. We all climbed aboard the abra for the trip across the Creek.

Massive amounts of goods are imported into Dubai on the Creek, but the workers who deliver them don't have permits to stay in the country so they are forced to sleep on their boats while their shipments are delivered/traded.

Safely landed on the other side of the Creek, looking back at the way we'd come.

Now it was time to hit Dubai's famous souqs! First, the spice souq.

Where you'll also find textiles.

In this shop here I bought some rosewater because I've been wanting to make Turkish Delight the correct way and rosewater seemed impossible to find in Vegas (an erroneous assumption since I found some recently in the international market). So I bargained the shop owner down on a small bottle of rosewater, feeling all special, only to find larger sized bottles for cheaper in a store at the mall near DG's apartment. D'oh! Oh, well. At least I can say I bought something from the Dubai spice souq.

Then it was on to the very famous gold souq! It's a long covered corridor filled to the brim with jewelry stores.

The gold here is unbelievably over the top. Everything's 18k gold, 24k gold, white gold, or purple gold, which is 18k gold mixed with another precious metal which gives it an iridescent look. Purple gold is more expensive and valuable than the regular gold.

In front of every store are these guys who are carrying trays of ice cold water and juices which they offer to tourists to try to lure us into the shops.

According to Wikipedia, at any one time 10 tons of gold can be present in Dubai's gold souq. I believe it.

Outside of the souq, back on the Creek, you can see a portion of the massive amount of goods that are imported into Dubai via this important waterway. This stuff stretches for at least a mile.

Finally the tour was over. I was sunburned, but pretty thrilled with what I'd seen. But it was time to think ahead to the night, because tonight DG was taking me to the Burj al Arab!

But first, some views off of the balcony of the apartment at sunset.

You can see the immense difference betwen the Burj Dubai and the rest of the skycrapers.

 

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