ATD | Dubai Experts: Dubaišs Living Heritage

In the cities:

The Souks:
The souks (traditional markets) on both sides of the Creek are attractive not just for their shopping bargains, but also as places for the sightseer to wander. A huddle of narrow souk alleys has survived on the Deira side of the Creek despite intensive building in recent years. Here in the tiny lanes of the spice souk, the atmosphere and scents of the past can be savored. Bags of spices, incense, rose leaves and traditional medicinal products are stacked in the alley outside of each stall.

Shopping:
Along the slightly larger lanes of the gold souk, each shop is identical to the next, its window crammed with gold necklaces, bangles, earrings and brooches. In the evening the area is a hive of activity as women convert their savings into tangible assets. Dubai is one of the most advantageous places in the world to buy gold. As an open port with low import duties, Dubai is known as the "Hong Kong of the Middle East." Freed from taxes imposed elsewhere, many top brand name products are cheaper in Dubai than in their country of origin. Whatever the visitor's tastes, couture from Paris or Milan, hi-tech from Japan, or a piece of silver Bedouin jewelry at one extreme, or low price articles which closer resemble their higher priced counterparts at the other, you will find it at the right price in Dubai.

In other small streets are shops selling nargilehs, tall hubble-bubble pipes in which the smoke is passed through water. There are traditional bakeries where the large flat loaves of unleavened bread are baked inside domed ovens in front of the customer. Other small shops sell veils with decorated edges and pantaloons with embroidered anklets. On the Bur side of the Creek are lanes full of dress material shops, where a blaze of colorful sari lengths, raw silks and cottons hang in profusion in the shop windows or outside on stalls.

Outside the city:
No visit to Dubai would be complete without a trip to the desert. Such excursions offer a glimpse of the flora and fauna of Arabia. Despite the sparse population of the desert, it is possible for visitors to gain a glimpse of the traditional lifestyles of the pre-urban past. In particular, camel racing is a memorable experience for visitors to Dubai. A favorite sport among the local people, there are few spectacles as exhilarating as a dozen or so camels galloping at full speed toward the finishing post amid the excited shouts of the crowds.