The gateway to the historic side of Dubai.
Last week, I shared my memorable escapade in Al Seef (Old Dubai) where we got mesmerized by the screaming contrasts between the glitz and glamorous side of Dubai and this part where history is kept.
So now let's begin from where that day started. From Ibn Battuta, we took the metro going to Al Ras Station where we would walk going to the Dubai Gold Souk. Immediately, you can see the stark difference between the structures of the stations. The Al Ras Station blends with the low buildings around the vicinity. Aptly, this is called the gateway to the historic side of Dubai.
Armed with Google maps in our hands, we walked along the streets of Deira where we got a preview of what to expect. The streets were lined with shops of numerous spices, perfumes, textiles, and souvenirs.
Before we knew it, we were here.
The Dubai Gold Souk
"Souk" is an Arabic word that translates to "market". Imagine, gold market. Whhhuuut!? Well, it's something I would say is common around here. Abu Dhabi also has a gold souq, although that one is inside a shopping center.
The Dubai Gold Souk, with lots of tourists walking through the rustic alleys and hawkers calling on every person that walks in front of them, buzzed with a different kind of energy. Perhaps it's the shining gold and jewelry? Maybe.
World's largest gold ring?
Yes, in one of the shops here, the Guinness World Records holder for the largest gold ring lies. It is said to weigh about 64 kilograms!
Imagine, with the gold price right now, how much this must be worth.
Silver
Keen to be able to buy at least something, I got the chance to look at some silver coins and billions. There were not a lot of options of designs that I truly liked.
So I ended up buying this piece. I really want to grow this little stash of mine. Soon.
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Other markets
As we walked through the alleys of the Gold Souk, we found ourselves turning to other kinds of goods. No, don't get me started with the cashmere.
Touch anything or make a mistake of asking, "how much", and you would find the soft, smooth scarf already wrapped around your neck. Lol. At least, I managed to get out of the textile souk, unscathed.
Spice Souk
The spice souk was something different. They were colors you could smell. The vendors were too enthusiastic to share what the spices do - like, how I would want to give one of them to my husband (dang, I now forget which one!) to make me happy. 😝
Then I told my sister about cardamom. A spice which she didn't know about. I told her how it was one of the distinct spice that was in the tea which we had at the Ibn Battuta metro station earlier that morning.
So we went inside a shop, just intending to look for a piece of cardamom. And boy, oh boy, the shop-owner was so good, we ended up buying different kinds of teas, even those eucalyptus crystals.
This part of Dubai is like a network of history that is very different from the modern city we all know. While some parts were empty - like the textiles, mattress, utensils souk, it still gave us a glimpse of how they traded back in the day.
Finally we reached the edge of the souk facing the Dubai Creek. Here we took the traditional abra to cross the creek and go and immerse ourselves in the other part of Old Dubai.
📍Dubai Gold Souq
Dubai, 🇦🇪
March 30, 2025
All photos are owned by the author unless stated otherwise.
