International Wedding Photographers ZaraZoo Wedding Photography – Cape Town

I thought it would be a good idea to get out of the airport and explore Dubai when I was in transit to London in July.  My idea of Dubai was big towers and amazing architecture.  Unforntunately they have a hazey kind of mist there in summer and this meant that visibility is very bad.  I opted to explore the old town of Dubai instead.  I was surprised in what I found!

There is a river that runs through that part of town.  I costs 1 DHS ( 2 Rands) to cross the river with these interesting boats that you just step onto.

On the one side of the Creek is a makeshift harbour.  This is used by businesses for trading with other countries in the UAE.  These boats look ancient, patched up and not seaworthy at all, but they still carry things like textiles, TV’s, Fridges etc around the Gulf.

I could not resist the temptation to see what it is like on these boats and asked a friendly sailor to show me around.   These guys live on the boats.  It is hot and humid and everything is old and cranky – but it was a very interesting experience.

These photos were taken at 8am – already 45 degrees Celsius.  These guys are just chilling after a shift of hard word from 5am to 7am.  The steering room doubles up as a bedroom.

The Spice markets (Souks) are just 100m away from where these boats are anchored.  Very fragrant, colorful and vibrant!

I noticed a lot of people sleeping and just lying around lazily between midday and 4pm.  It is just too hot and numid to be active.

It was an awesome experience and insight into the way people live and operate in this part of the world – a stark contrast to the picture most of us have of the corporate, skyscraper super Dubai!