Its quite interesting how hard it is to find an 'authentic' experience in Dubai—and more than anything it makes one think about the meaning, and value, of authenticity. I think the glossy skyscrapers and dusty mirrored surfaces are probably more authentic than the soukhs —but somehow we connect authenticity to a certain rusticity or 'commonality' and its hard to shift to a conception of authenticity meaning a form of the zeitgeist.
The gold and spice soukhs in Dubai are probably easily reached by car, but for a more 'authentic' experience we took an abra—a pretty great type of old boat similar to a gondola but I presume less precious. Our abra held about 25 people heading up Dubai Creek to the soukhs. We started from the center of Dubai on the Deira side of the Creek—quite possibly the oldest part. It was hot and humid, and we parked near a huge Bollywood movie theater, and made our way through an all-Indian crowd to get to the abra queue.
The soukhs are, well, soukh-ish, and I was struck by how similar they are to back-alley markets all over Asia, with hawkers and touts shouting.
No pictures of the counterfeited-goods stalls (not allowed) hidden upstairs in half-stories above and behind the gold stalls. "GucciFendiChanelLouisVuitton...come with me..."
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