OLD DUBAI - DUBAI SERIES #2

Visiting Old Dubai wasn't on the to-do list during our holiday. However, our taxi driver had different plans for us and insisted Old Dubai was a much better place to visit instead of where we actually wanted to go. Although at first, we weren't very impressed, it turned out our taxi driver was right.

Getting to Old Dubai was a bit of a challenge, especially if you're a scaredy cat like me. To get to the souks we had to go on an Abra which is a water taxi system that they use in Dubai. Although it doesn't sound too dangerous, it is essentially a very old wooden boat where they pack as many people on as possible. After the initial shock of realising I had to get on the boat, it did turn out to be quite pleasant in the end and it was nice to see how people really live in this part of the city.

If you do happen to visit Old Dubai, be prepared! Sniffing out a tourist is in their blood and you will be harassed to within an inch of your life, both by the stallholders and the men insisting that they have lots of Michael Kors watches to sell you.
It's essential that you haggle when you go there. The stallholders aren't afraid to charge you extraordinary amounts in the hope that you'll be stupid enough to fall for it. In one stall, they tried to charge me 100 Dirhams (£17) for a small toy that I wanted to take back for my cousin. In the space of a few minutes, I managed to get it down to 5 Dirhams (£1) so it really goes to show you that you need to bargain with them.

However, Old Dubai is the place you want to go to if you're on the look for a good bargain, especially for gold and spices. There are also the usual touristy souvenirs which are a lot cheaper to buy here than anywhere else. After coming to this part of Dubai, we realised we had been ripped of big time at Souk Madinat Jumeirah for the souvenirs we bought there even though we thought we were getting a good deal at the time!
There are also a lot of places here where you can buy traditional Arab clothes at a good price. If you do happen to visit Old Dubai, make sure to go in the evening as it's all outdoors so it can get pretty hot during the day. Another tip is to download a currency converter on your phone that you can use without any internet so you'll always know how much you're paying for an item in terms of your local currency (trust me it's helpful).

P.S sorry for the poor quality photos but I wasn't too keen on flashing my phone about!