PHOTOS BY MELISSA REYNOLDS

Travel by Melissa Reynolds

Dubai: beyond the glitter and gold

How to find credit card relief in the city of shopping

Although a year-round activity in Dubai, retail therapy hits fever pitch this month as the country hosts its annual ‘Festival of Shopping’, a haven of consumerism for anyone looking for a little cheering-up at the most depressing time of year.

If you are in Dubai and have already maxed out your credit card and taken the obligatory wallet-draining activities like jeep safaris, you may find you still have some time on your hands and a few Dirham left in your pocket. Don’t despair if you are feeling the pinch though. Dubai offers numerous opportunities for catching some Emirati culture and immersing yourself in a few unforgettable experiences that won’t further damage your credit rating.

A thoroughly modern city, the impressive and rapidly expanding Dubai skyline stands as a testament to the nation’s wealth and success. At the turn of the last century the small settlement covered a fraction of the area it occupies today, just three kilometres long and one kilometre wide, split by a creek and surrounded by arid desert. In contrast with the futuristic glass and steel high-rises of today, the architectural design of old Dubai was influenced by the environment, the teachings of Islam and social structure, with the majority of buildings constructed using local materials such as sea stone and palm fronds.

In recognition of the need to preserve the city’s cultural heritage a number of museums have been opened within some of its oldest buildings and are a great place to learn about a history that stretches back thousands of years.

The Bur Dubai district is the perfect place to begin a day on the cultural trail, starting with a visit to the 18th century Al Fahidi Fort and Dubai Museum. With a chequered past of its own, the coral and lime built fort has been used to defend the city from invaders, as a ruler’s palace, a seat of government, a military barracks and even a prison before its conversion to a museum in 1971.
On first inspection, Al Fahidi offers limited interest with only a few basic artefacts and reconstructions at ground level. However, hidden beneath the busy city streets are winding underground galleries that chart the city’s journey from commercial fishing and pearl-diving centre to the sleek international finance metropolis of today.

Scenes of traditional life have been realistically recreated to provide an atmospheric walk through history, supplemented with informative panels to explain everything from the roots of the spice and pearl trade to how the desert city has overcome an increasing demand for water, a subject of interest to anyone concerned about Cyprus’ current dilemma. The Emirate built its first desalination plant during the 1970s and by the early 1990s Dubai had more plants providing more than 69 million gallons of water a day.

The reconstructions are enhanced by fascinating objects of the past including artefacts from the emirate’s largest archaeological site at Jumeira. This was once a caravan station and vital link in the trade route between Oman and Iraq during the early days of Islam in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. You can also see a selection of ‘Sharlos’, the 3,000-year-old stones depicting images and writings discovered at the Bronze Age settlement of Hatta, close to the border with Oman in the foothills of the Hajar Mountains. One rather unusually endearing feature is the skeletal remains of a husband and wife facing each other with hands entwined in what the romantics amongst us might hope is an eternal gesture of devotion. The couple were found in a tomb dating back to 2000 to 2600 BC at the nearby Al Qusais settlement.

The museum provides an hour or so relief from the heat and dust of the city and is great value entertainment with an adult entry charge of only 3AED (€0.56). If it doesn’t quite satisfy your appetite for history there are three additional museums you can visit within the city limits.

Alternatively, the Bur Dubai Abra station is just a 10-minute walk from the museum, provided you can resist the fantastic savings offered by numerous electronics shops. A trip on an Abra, one of the small wooden passenger boats that traverse the Creek, is a must-do when in Dubai, both for the experience of travelling the way the locals do and as a great way to see the city from the water. The best news for the cost-conscious traveller is that the trip from Bur Dubai to the Deira old souk station on the north side of the Creek, close to the city’s legendary gold and spice souks, will set you back just 1AED, (€0.19). Alternatively, you can negotiate a price with the captain to take you on your own personal scenic tour.

Even if you have no interest in purchasing jewellery, a browse around the bustling gold souk as the evening draws in is entertainment in itself. Dubai imports over 300 tonnes of gold a year and the high volume combined with low margins makes it one of the cheapest places in the world if you looking to buy a bit of bling. As you pass the rows of shops with windows full of glittering gold, expect street hawkers to try their luck and challenge you to a good-natured haggle over the cost of their wares. Your taste buds, meanwhile, will be tormented by the delicious aroma of fresh spice and meat from the sharwarmas and fattayer prepared in the cafes hidden within the rabbit warren of narrow side streets. Amateur chefs will enjoy the nearby Deira old souk with its stalls displaying enormous open sacks of fragrant Middle Eastern spices such as cardamom, ginger and cinnamon.

The streets of Dubai can be a little daunting to the first-time visitor but with one of the lowest crime rates in the world the Emirate is generally safe, although the usual precautions still make good sense. Locals are generally very friendly so if you do decide to go it alone and are unfortunate enough to lose your bearings you will encounter an overwhelming desire to provide help if you simply ask.

If you prefer an escort, tour operators like the Big Bus Company provide site-seeing excursions that include entry to some of the museums, but these are little more expensive than a solo tour at 175 AED (€33) per adult or 450 AED (€84) for a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children).