It seems that every other day I get out and try to do something….
Monday, I made up my mind to see some souks (markets) on my own. Not too far away from Oud Metha Rd, where I am staying, is an area of town called Karama. The travel book mentioned a section of town with lots of shops for tourists and locals, so I thought it sounded like an interesting venture out.
Setting out by 10am when shops are meant to be open in the morning, I easily snagged a taxi and arrived in a short 5 – 10 minutes. The taxi driver dropped me off in the middle of a 5-block shopping area, which is like a strip mall only smaller. There were a lot of clothing items for sale with a few touristy-type stores, where I did manage to buy a few gifts for people. It must have been far too early for locals to be up as the only people I saw were the shop attendants trying to get me to go in their stores and other crazy tourists like me. As I wasn’t looking for knock-off clothes, bags or sunglasses, I wasn’t their ideal client. Still, I was enjoying the walk through until…
I was nearing the end and thinking about going to another section of town where they have a gold souk and other highlights, when a man came up behind me quickly and said “Excuse me”. I went to the left of the walkway since it was easier and as he passed he said, “No, it’s the right side”. I simply said, “Sorry” and let him carry on. He appeared to be going to his car, so I continued on and stepped into a shop. About a minute later, the same man entered the shop as well and seemed to know the shop clerk. It made me a bit suspicious, but I ignored him and continued looking at the item I wanted to purchase. The man pretended to look at some other things and sort of got in my way, but I ignored him. After about 5-minutes, he took his leave and I happily finished my purchase. When I left the store, I saw the man standing outside, but I continued to ignore him and completed my circuit through the shops and began considering what to do next.
I knew there was a larger mall in the area or I could try the other part of town. So, I began to look for a cab. As I stopped to ask one, the driver shook his head that he wasn’t available. I crossed the street and a white car came up beside me with the man from before inside. He said, “Get in, where do you want to go? I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” WTF?? I thought and politely refused, continuing to look for a real taxi. He followed me along the road trying to get me to get in his car, but thankfully there were cars lining the street keeping him away from me on the sidewalk. I looked for a store to jump in to if necessary and slowed down ignoring him. Finally, he left saying “I’ll be seeing you.” So, feeling flustered and irritated that he had disturbed my adventure, I quickly got a cab and had him take me to the BurJuman mall.
While it wasn’t my plan to visit another mall and I did want to see more of the local sites, I enjoyed just walking around this mall. It had more style and ambience than the other malls I have seen so far. So, it wasn’t a total waste of the day or experience. The BurJuman was quiet with very few people, higher-end stores (Saks), and interesting design.
In the middle of the mall was a model of the city of Dubai with a night-scape setup. So, I got a land and aerial view.
Still, I made a couple of realizations: 1) There are very few women outside walking alone during the day – a. there are just very few women out and b. if they are out they are generally with another woman or a man. 2) People basically do not do much shopping in the mornings, so for a real non-mall shopping experience, it is better to go out at night.
Thus, ends my adventure in Karama. Tomorrow will probably be another pool day and work day. ;D
Until next time,
-T
