Behind the glitz and glamour of the new city of Dubai are the "old sections" of town. Some of the funnest and most culturally rich areas of the city to explore and visit. These areas of the city ooze with tradition, different languages and personality. I recommend you park your car and explore them on foot. Become part of the activity, the area that you are visiting. In some places it may seem a little sketchy, but no worries, you will be safe.
The older sections of Dubai have names like, Bastakiya, Deira, Satwa, Karama, Shindagha and Bur Dubai.
These areas of the city are pretty, enchanting, dirty, stinky and crowded on any given day, but they are also full of charm, work, life and constant activity. Some of these areas never sleep, infact night time is when streets and shops of Satwa, Karama and Shindagaha come alive.
On the weekends the people from all walks of life, spill out onto the sidewalks and streets, making it hard to not only walk but almost impossible to get your cars down some of the narrow, crowded streets. Driver s and taxi's are incessantly honking their car horns as people meander back and forth across the streets, in and out of traffic. No one seems to be afraid of being hit by a car. Whats with that? There are worn out bikes being ridden in between moving cars and men pulling wooden hand carts to transport their supplies. It is totally awesome !
I love, love, love this part of Dubai. It is so fun to wander in these sections of the city, strike up a conversation with a shop owner and experience the daily hustle and bustle of middle eastern life. Most the time I feel as if I have entered into a time warp. Men are in their dhotis and dish dashes, women in their abaya's passing through the shops, buying things such as fresh fish, spices and pashmina scarves from open air vendors. It is expected that you will barter with the store keepers on the cost of their wares.They start high, you start low and always carry cash.
Bastakiya, Bur Dubai and Deira sit on either side of the Dubai Creek. It is called a creek, but when I think of a creek, I conjure up in my head a babbling brook. The Dubai Creek is bigger than a babbling brook, much bigger.The creek is a natural seawater inlet that separates the city. A major waterway for Dubai.
Life along Dubai Creek retains a sense of Dubai's historical past and traditions. But right outside the Creek boundaries the new city of Dubai is growing, expanding. The Creek is alive, it is home to colorful dhows, old Abra's, freighters and expensive yachts.
The Abra water taxi's transport people back and forth across the Creek daily for only a few dirham ( @ 50 cents ) each way. It is cheap, quick and only takes less than 15 minutes to get to the other side.
The Abra taxi's fill up fast and can hold @ 30 people on each trip. They look really old and you may wonder about a few of them and say to yourself, "how does that thing stay afloat". But the Creek would not be the same without them, the Abra water taxi.
Larger freighters or ships bring in cargo everyday and dump their loads on the docks along the Creek. I have never seen such chaos and organization at the same time. The freight is stacked haphazardly, and contains a little of everything you would imagine... food, furniture, electronics and refrigerators just to mention a few things.
In the picture below we came upon this ship that had just unloaded its cargo. The five fisherman were "hanging out " as they said, on their deck" and begged me to take their picture. When they asked if I wanted to come aboard, I knew it was time to move along down the dock. See ya guys.
Anything you want - you can find in old city Dubai. The oldest buildings and shops can be found here,along with alleys that run everywhere. Count on lots of noise and smells like I had never smelled before. I still say that Dubai has a distinct smell, I liken it to spices and sea water, but in these areas, add dirt and sweat and you will find yourself saying, "what is that smell ? "
Scary restaurants and makeshift food vendors are plentiful. Many of the men selling the food are serving the food bare footed. I have seen their hands up close and wow, they a have dirty hands and clothes. But dirty hands and clothes do not prevent people from swarming around the food vendors, pushing impatiently to purchase their food items. I watch in awe and horror. "Run for your lives ", I am thinking. Food poison could be their friend. That may sound a little far fetched but it is not. There is on average one - two people per month mentioned in the Gulf News as dying from food poisoning from one of these vendors. Don't people care that everything is so dirty? My husband would stop and eat at every single eatery if he could, no matter how dirty or grimy, but not me. I have come along way living here in the middle east, especially with my willingness to try new foods, but a girl has limits and standards.
.
You never know what treasure you will find in these areas of the city, you could stumble on beautiful Arabic architecture, a burned out ship left rotting in the harbor or a cafe that sells camel burgers. When we came upon the burned out ship, we were intrigued. We jumped out of our car and could not snap enough pictures. What had happened to it? Was it very old? I am certain it has a story. The ship was burned, rotting pieces of wood and large nails, but what a beauty.
As for the camel burger, I will have to pass. It just does not feel right for me to eat a camel. Besides they are so cute !
I don't get to old Dubai enough, but when we do it invigorates me and I look forward to coming back soon to continue exploring, meet fascinating people like I have never met before and observe life in motion.
Fabulous !!!
The older sections of Dubai have names like, Bastakiya, Deira, Satwa, Karama, Shindagha and Bur Dubai.
These areas of the city are pretty, enchanting, dirty, stinky and crowded on any given day, but they are also full of charm, work, life and constant activity. Some of these areas never sleep, infact night time is when streets and shops of Satwa, Karama and Shindagaha come alive.
On the weekends the people from all walks of life, spill out onto the sidewalks and streets, making it hard to not only walk but almost impossible to get your cars down some of the narrow, crowded streets. Driver s and taxi's are incessantly honking their car horns as people meander back and forth across the streets, in and out of traffic. No one seems to be afraid of being hit by a car. Whats with that? There are worn out bikes being ridden in between moving cars and men pulling wooden hand carts to transport their supplies. It is totally awesome !
I love, love, love this part of Dubai. It is so fun to wander in these sections of the city, strike up a conversation with a shop owner and experience the daily hustle and bustle of middle eastern life. Most the time I feel as if I have entered into a time warp. Men are in their dhotis and dish dashes, women in their abaya's passing through the shops, buying things such as fresh fish, spices and pashmina scarves from open air vendors. It is expected that you will barter with the store keepers on the cost of their wares.They start high, you start low and always carry cash.
Life along Dubai Creek retains a sense of Dubai's historical past and traditions. But right outside the Creek boundaries the new city of Dubai is growing, expanding. The Creek is alive, it is home to colorful dhows, old Abra's, freighters and expensive yachts.
The Abra water taxi's transport people back and forth across the Creek daily for only a few dirham ( @ 50 cents ) each way. It is cheap, quick and only takes less than 15 minutes to get to the other side.
The Abra taxi's fill up fast and can hold @ 30 people on each trip. They look really old and you may wonder about a few of them and say to yourself, "how does that thing stay afloat". But the Creek would not be the same without them, the Abra water taxi.
Larger freighters or ships bring in cargo everyday and dump their loads on the docks along the Creek. I have never seen such chaos and organization at the same time. The freight is stacked haphazardly, and contains a little of everything you would imagine... food, furniture, electronics and refrigerators just to mention a few things.
In the picture below we came upon this ship that had just unloaded its cargo. The five fisherman were "hanging out " as they said, on their deck" and begged me to take their picture. When they asked if I wanted to come aboard, I knew it was time to move along down the dock. See ya guys.
Scary restaurants and makeshift food vendors are plentiful. Many of the men selling the food are serving the food bare footed. I have seen their hands up close and wow, they a have dirty hands and clothes. But dirty hands and clothes do not prevent people from swarming around the food vendors, pushing impatiently to purchase their food items. I watch in awe and horror. "Run for your lives ", I am thinking. Food poison could be their friend. That may sound a little far fetched but it is not. There is on average one - two people per month mentioned in the Gulf News as dying from food poisoning from one of these vendors. Don't people care that everything is so dirty? My husband would stop and eat at every single eatery if he could, no matter how dirty or grimy, but not me. I have come along way living here in the middle east, especially with my willingness to try new foods, but a girl has limits and standards.
.
You never know what treasure you will find in these areas of the city, you could stumble on beautiful Arabic architecture, a burned out ship left rotting in the harbor or a cafe that sells camel burgers. When we came upon the burned out ship, we were intrigued. We jumped out of our car and could not snap enough pictures. What had happened to it? Was it very old? I am certain it has a story. The ship was burned, rotting pieces of wood and large nails, but what a beauty.
As for the camel burger, I will have to pass. It just does not feel right for me to eat a camel. Besides they are so cute !
I don't get to old Dubai enough, but when we do it invigorates me and I look forward to coming back soon to continue exploring, meet fascinating people like I have never met before and observe life in motion.
Fabulous !!!
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