This way to the souks...

This guy was so keen on me taking his photo,
he posed twice, then went and filled his load and
came back and posed again.

Since blogging is a visual medium as much as a written one, I’m going to let pictures tell a thousand words today and just press upload a few times. Voila! Instant post. Who said maintaining a blog was hard work?

But first, just a few words of background. Since we arrived – nearly two months ago – I have been yearning to get back to the old souks down on the creek here in Dubai, preferably with a camera and a few hundred dirham. My only requirement was that I be alone – no whining children in tow, no husband fuming over how long I was spending looking at pashminas (sorry, honey, but you know you would), not even a friend with an agenda not precisely like my own. Man, I’m selfish! (I do, in fact, love my family and even my new friends, despite how this sounds.) Or maybe (noble tilt of chin) I just wanted to spare others what would be an experience not to their liking...

Anyhoo, I found myself with a bit of time on my hands after an unexpectedly brilliant experience with Dubai bureaucracy the other day, and raced off to wander the souks for a wee while. SO much fun. The windows full of glinting gold, the baskets filled with aromatic spices (a good way to find the spice souk is to follow your nose) and everywhere you look men (always men) from the whole sweep of the Middle East, Africa and the sub-continent pushing barrel-loads of goods in all directions. Down on the docks the stench of diesel, the abra driver steering lazily with his feet, the slap of salt water that stung like Sydney Harbour. Happy days. Bought a few things too...

PS Despite all of the wonders above, one of the things I miss about home is actually... wait for it... Kmart. I kid you not. I can buy a gloriously embroidered scarf from Turkmenistan, but I can't buy a plain white t-shirt, children's pjs, a hammer and a vegetable peeler, all in one handy location and at ridiculously low prices. Sigh. You don't know what you've got til it's gone.
What would you miss if you left home?