Dubai 2014 Photo Diary: Wandering Around The Souks

One of my favorite stops during my stay in Dubai was the market, or as they call it, the Souks! I personally think it's the best way to understand a country's culture; through the food they sell as well as most of the stuff they usually buy. It says something about the typical life of a local! Read on to see my experience in the Souks! :)

The Souks can of course be accessed through main roads, but our guide had us ride the boat for a quick view of the older part of town from the bay.

Needless to say, it was such a beautiful experience. The weather was pleasant as well!

Right off the docks, there's already a few stores that sell souvenirs. I didn't check the prices but I assume it's going to be a bit cheaper if you tried finding souvenirs on the Souk proper rather than right off the docks.

The Souk is actually incredibly large and it almost feels like it keeps going on and on!

The first portion is the Spice Souks and you can pretty much guess that it's going to be brimming with all the spices you could imagine! Aside from these, you can also buy local delicacies and grocery products.

Here's one of the vendors explaining the different uses of spices; from medicinal to culinary use. One of the coolest things in the Spice Souk is that everyone is super friendly and a lot of the locals tried to converse with us in Tagalog it was so fun!

Walking around tickles your nose but it isn't overwhelming at all! It's just a really wonderful way to take in the old world charms of Dubai :D

There are also art stores that sell paintings and...

Beautiful bottled sand! The artist pours layers and layers of colored sand into a bottle, he then tweaks it with sticks to create curves and different lines like the images on the bottles you see in the photo! You can also have them customized with your name but I think it's about an hour of waiting if you have it custom-made.

The Gold Souk is just a minute away on foot and the first thing you'll see the world's largest gold ring! I'm not really sure why anyone would make such a ring. It's as wide as a hula hoop! This part of the market is all about the bling so if you're crazy about jewelry, you better be ready! Haha!

After a quick look at the Gold Souk, our guide showed us to this store where we could buy local specialties. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the place is called. :(

Here, you can buy nuts and spices, but I recommend trying the local chocolates. The Chocolate-coated Dates are definitely worth trying!

Visiting the Souks was so unexpectedly fun that I think everyone who visits Dubai should stop by, even if you're not planning on buying anything! :)

Stay tuned for more travel photos!