Dubai - Traditional and Modern Arab Culture

Luxury Hotels, Clean Beaches, Desert Experience,Traditional Markets

Jun 1, 2007

Not only is Dubai the place to experience traditional Arab Culture, it also is one of the world's richest cities. Shopping in Dubai is among the best in the world.

This desert land, with its fringe of brilliant white beaches and warm turquoise waters, is a cosmopolitan 20th-century city with mansions rising from the sand and hotels that reflect some of the most interesting architecture in the Middle East.

Dubai - Jumeira Beach and Burj al Arab

Lie on Jumeira Beach, open your eyes and for a moment you might imagine you have been transported to Brobdingnag, the land of the giants in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. An enormous white yacht seems to be sailing by, its teflon sails towering 320 metres into the sky, billowing in the breeze. But this is not the biggest yacht in the world, it is - according to Conde Naste Magazine - the best hotel in the world, the Burj al Arab.

Such exuberant displays of luxury are commonplace in Dubai, but there’s another side to it. In spite of the emphasis on business and shopping there is still much of traditional Arab culture to be explored and enjoyed. The souks, the markets which line the narrow streets in the Deira part of the city (a suburb just across the Creek), are a cornucopia of wonderful smells from an amazing array of herbs and spices. In the perfume souk you will not only emerge smelling of roses, but every other sweet perfume as well - the traders are happy to let you sample.

For many, the desert alone is reason enough to come to Dubai and a popular out-of-town excursion is to the Hatta Wadi Valley, one of the best ways to explore this ancient landscape. Only one and a half hour’s drive from the city is the ancient fortress village of Hatta. The journey takes you across a dry, hot land dotted with scrub and camels and the occasional Bedouin shack. The arid, jagged Hajar Mountains loom ahead, the lower slopes dotted with streams and deep rock pools. Then it’s on to the real desert - the great, golden, rolling sand dunes where you can have the life scared out of you by indulging in a spot of ‘dune bashing’. Your driver will delight in taking the 4WD up to the top of the dunes and racing down, then up and down again, until he has you squealing in fright, or pleasure - depending on how you look at it. Either way, it’s great fun.

A very different kind of journey, but equally interesting, is a cruise around the Creek. The city looks beautiful by night, especially from the deck of a wooden dhow, the traditional Arab boat whose design has not changed in centuries. The dhow passes by dark silhouettes of mosques, their minarets glowing softly in the dark. The warm tropical breeze stirs the air as delicious Middle Eastern food is served and a musician plays a traditional 12-string lute-like instrument called an Oud. It’s an Arabian night to remember.

The copyright of the article Dubai - Traditional and Modern Arab Culture in Historical Travel is owned by Cathy Smith. Permission to republish Dubai - Traditional and Modern Arab Culture in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.