My wife and I spent our first day in Dubai walking through Deira, the older section of town known for its souks (or markets). Within an hour of departing our Dubai hotel by taxi, we confirmed what our preliminary research told us: it’s an extremely hot place with extremely bad traffic. It took us nearly an hour to travel less than 3 miles to the edge of the market area.

The hot (but thankfully dry) air blasted us as we wandered towards the gold souk. I had flashbacks of Mazatlan as we were accosted by merchants trying to sell counterfeit watches, bags and sunglasses in amazingly bold and persistent manner. The locals were surprisingly friendly, however, unlike my experiences in Mexico and even Hawaii.

Our walking tour took us to two historical landmarks, the Heritage House and adjacent school. The free museum tours were modernized by kiosks and videos and offered helpful insights into the culture, lifestyle and education of early Emirate citizens. We then circled back towards our hotel and wandered the wharf, where palates and boxes pile high, sometimes sitting for weeks before being moved, without any danger of being stolen.

We capped off our day with a dhow dinner river cruise, that started on Dubai Creek, and took us into the Arabian Sea. We enjoyed a tasty buffet, live music and a sampling of strawberry-flavored sheesha. All in all, it was an enjoyable and educational immersive experience into Dubai cuture.

[tags]Dubai, UAE, Deira, Sunset River Cruise, gold souk[/tags]