Places I've been and want to visit Part 2 - DUBAI

LOVE DUBAI!

The shopping WOW! The Shopping!

The Gold Souk in Deira...

This place is indescribable. Must be over 1000 shops all in rows, selling nothing but Gold, Diamonds and Pearls. The gold is all minimum 18ct (its the law) and the diamonds are amazingly cheap. No tax or duty.


The day we ventured to Deira Gold Souk our hotel had a black out - little did we know the ENTIRE CITY was experiencing the black out. No air conditioning when it's 39 deg! We wanted to purchase a couple of items from Deira, knowing how cheap the gold is, the gold is priced according to weight and not design.

The shopping list: me a necklace, my dad a gold bracelet, me a watch, dad, buying his partner a necklace and earring set... Unfortunately the merchants weigh the gold using electronic scales, and of course unable to work without power. We went looking around in approximately 30 stores trying to find the perfect necklace / earring set. Approximately 3 hours of looking around and many people at the hounding us all the time "You want copy watch?, copy handbag? Copy DVDs?" but as soon as you tell them "no", they leave you alone. The heat starting to get to us and many bottles of water later....

We went back to a jeweler and negotiated the best price for my Raymond Weir watch. Basically - they wanted to make "a" sale during the day and we had a limited amount of cash, no eftpos or credit facilities available during a blackout ;-) We did find one store (along with too many others - there was a line up outside) in the midst of the souk with a power generator, we knew there had to be another. Searching and searching we found one with the most stunning arrangement of necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Done. Purchased a necklace for me. Necklace, bracelet and earrings for Gloria. (Dad wanted another design which we found later at the airport).

Upon return to our hotel I striped off my recently purchased Gianfranco Ferre White linen pants to find the red top I was wearing had the dye run! No air conditioning and sporting red top with white pants is not recommended!

After an afternoon at the beach a shower we were off again shopping. This time we went to one of the largest malls Deira City Centre

We had authentic traditional dinner here at 9.30pm. The food hall was so full we had to wait for a table!

Shopping was totally satisfied! Purchased:

- 2 pairs of 4" high heel shoes (me)

- Dupont lighter (dad)

- Gianfranco Ferre black leather bag (me)

- Marc Jacobs pink bag (me)

- Balenciaga red motorcycle bag (dad bought for me)

- Carton of cigarettes (dad) he was over the moon a carton of longbeach cost AU$12!

- Camel snow globe (sand globe) so very cute gift for my nephew

- Louis Vuitton scarf for my mum

- Louis Vuitton black leather belt for my sister

- A fridge magnet (embarrassing, but yes)

Of course we did do the tourist adventure, that included the fish markets, the grand Mosque, drive past the Race course where the Camel Races are held, the Spice Souk and taking in again the Gold Souk.

Typically as in all destinations while on holiday we went to the museum. Brief history on Dubai... Originally a small fishing settlement, Dubai was taken over around 1830 by a branch of the Bani Yas tribe from the Liwa oasis led by the Maktoum family who still rule the emirate today. An independent emirate for most of its history, in 1971 Dubai came together with Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and (in 1972) Ras Al Khaimah to create the federation of the United Arab Emirates. The discovery of oil in 1966 dramatically transformed the emirate by allowing the development of the economic and social infrastructure which laid the foundations for today's modern society. Much of the credit for this development can be traced to the vision of the late Ruler, HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who ensured that Dubai's oil revenues were deployed to maximum effect. His work has been continued by the present Ruler, HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

inevitable to say, the Museum was fairly modern and the gift store consisted mostly of camel statues.

When we booked our little tour through the hotel they organised a German tour company! Ahhh... I speak ohhh about 5% Deutsche. Luckily my father is fluent and the entire Dubai tour was being translated for me. Now, UAE is liberal when it comes to Westerners, they have to be as 75% of the population are not UAE residents, in my opinion we are to respect the traditions and culture of the country we visit. One of the girls was wearing a singlet and a knee length skirt. Not on.

I don't think I put enough emphasis on the huge camel population - 1 more pic to be sure ;-)