A Middle Eastern Chick with a treasure chest of stories to tell and a capricious thought process that is often difficult to keep up with.

Apr 2, 2011

Souq Savvy!


(Arabic vocab for the day: Souq- bazaar, market place).
Okay, I feel ashamed. I LIVE in Dubai and I had no idea how insanely awesome the souqs were out here. I’m not talking about the traditional spice souqs, gold souqs or fish souqs. I’m talking about huge merchandise souqs where you find the latest Juicy Couture for dirt prices! I found this tiny little shop in a tiny little corner of relatively tiny little souq. I got attracted by the colourful tie-dye summer-wear (I’m a sucker for those things) and went inside to check it out. I think my heart sang opera as I took in all the brilliantly-coloured cotton-wear that could easily sell for ridiculously skyrocketing prices in high-end fashion stores. I felt like I had just landed a plane ticket to heaven. 
Needless to say, I’ll be going back there as soon as I’m done with these pain-in-the-butt exams that I’ve got at the moment. I will shop till I drop… and my purse strings will still have a considerable amount of jingly booty to hold on to at the end of the day. It’s a win-win situation! Forget the rip-off malls. It’s souqs for me from now on! 
Do you know what the strange thing is? This isn’t even the best market that I’ve seen! I’ve seen WAY cheaper market places in Mauritius, Cambodia and Turkey. Cambodia was like living in a permanent Clearance Sale. I bought the most exquisite beach dress from an obscure little shop for $9.00! That was after bargaining for ages… The price had started off at $18.00. I was quite pushy that day… 
Here are some pictures from a brilliant Turkish bazaar that I went to a couple of years ago: 
Spice Market
The Spice Market.
Beautiful Mediterranean art.Beautiful Mediterranean art.

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