A group of Dubai Tourism’s top selling agents – the Dubai Xperts – are running around the city on an ‘Amazing Race’ themed educational. Anna-Belle Mulder reports from Dubai…
DUBAI makes the seamless connection from dusty trading markets to the epitome of luxury without even a hiccup, giving visitors any and all kinds of experiences.
Until today, Woolies was my idea of a spice market. That was until I had the privilege of visiting Dubai’s famous spice market.
With the sun beating down on us, with temperatures soaring over 40 degrees, we winded our way through the maze of stalls and shops, smiling in answer to the hordes of shop owners begging us to “look for free” in their shops, which were filled to the brim with pockets of saffron and sacks of strangely shaped candy-coated, camel milk chocolates.
In the market, I met a young store owner named Abdul, who had recently inherited his father’s store and was having a go at the spice business. He kindly took the time to go through each packet of spice, filled with their mysterious looking contents, and explained what each one was and what it was used for. He even refrained from laughing when I mistakenly bit into a dried garlic clove and nearly chipped my tooth while gagging on the unpleasant taste.
The Dubai spice market sits on the banks of the Dubai creek and is in easy walking distance of the gold market, home to the biggest gold ring in the world. Tourists who visit the market will likely be pulled aside by a seemingly innocent man, loitering along the walk way, who will rattle off at lightning speed: “Prada, Fendi, Rolex watches. You come with me my best customer,” and hassle you until you either give in and follow him or firmly say “no thanks”. Any type of jewellery can be found at the market; from huge how-can-your-neck-hold-that-thing-up necklaces to earrings that I’m sure were once used as weapons of torture in the middle ages.
And then there’s Dubai Mall, where husbands who trust their wives with their credit cards soon discover it to be the black hole where credit cards go to be maxed out. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can visit the mall without buying several luxurious items from one of the 2 000 plus outlets.
The mall is also home to the famous water fountain show that plays each evening and is never a disappointment. Although watch out for the direction of the wind or you could get more than a show. But even being completely soaked by luke-warm water couldn’t put a damper on the award winning attraction.
