6th of March 2019                                                                                                                                             Larissa Bakker

Today we visited the Dubai golden souk. This cultural market origins in older parts of Arabia. You can find many local products at the different stalls. For example gold, jewerly, parfums, hand-woven fabrics and different spices. This market is very sustainable because all the products are locally made so the local people make profit. Also on one side of the Souks you can find a huge bin where people can storage their old clothes for the local poor people. 

I tried to talk with one of the sellers at the spice market. He told me that all the spices he has are found by his grandfather. He told me that his grandfather is always on the road to find the best products. They only meet when he needs to refill the supplies at the market and that's why he misses him dearly. It is so important to him to sell his spices. His family is making money out so they can live their lifes. 

My experience with the souks where not easy because I am a woman. Man at this market like to touch you and pull you into their stores. But not the man I was talking to. He was very kind and liked to tell me his story.

When we were done visiting the Souks we went to the Dubai Marina where had a speedboat tour. This was not very sustainable because of the gasoline the boats use. We started at a harbour and sailed to the persian gulf. There we saw the Dubai Eye which they are still building. We went around the Palm Jumeirah and saw the Atlantis hotel. They were  building a bigger one next to it. We also saw parts of the Aquaventure waterpark where you  can swim with sharks and dolphins.  Then the boat began to speed and we bumped over the sea. This was a lot of fun! We went to the Burj al Arab where a guide told us a lot about the hotel. Afterwards we headed back to the harbour with a lot of speed. The boat tour was organised by Splash Tours. 

One of my friends is handicapped and sits in a wheelchair. She paid for the speedboat tour but she did not know in advance that she could not join this tour (because of all the hard bumps at sea she would break her back ). The organisation told her to wait untill we were done. When we came back they offered her a ride with a private polyester boat with less bumps than in the normal rubber boats. This was very kind of the organisation. They also invited her father, her unclue and me to join and keep company to my friend. 

I had a lot of fun this afternoon and I learned a lot from the local cultural at the souk. I do recommend the speedboat tour and when you visit Dubai you must visit one of the souks to get a cultural and local experience.