Dubai Day 1 Dubai UAE 18 October 2025

Another slow start to our day, a late night/very early morning arrival into Dubai will do that.
We had a leisurely breakfast out on the creek foreshore, watching the Dubai world go by, particularly up and down the creek.
We both had Shakshuka, a Maghrebi dish of eggs poached in tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic with a few spices thrown in. (hopefully Deb has a pic on fb – see the link at the end of this entry).
Our first expedition out was a ride on an Abra (Abra have been used on the Dubai Creek for centuries to transport goods and people) across the creek to have a look around the Gold Souq, the Spice Souq and the Grand Souq Deira. It Costs 1 AED (about 45c Australian) each way, paid in cash to the driver. It took about 5 mins to cross over on the Baniyas – Old Souq boat.
We hopped off the boat and walked up Old Baladiya St to the Gold Souq. It wasn’t just all Gold shops, there are many assorted shops dotted all around the Gold/Jewellery shops. The same thing happens in all the other Souqs, a bit disappointing as you don’t get that full on feeling of opulence in the Gold Souq, or be overcome with aromas in the Spice Souq. But hey, it works for them, I think. We walked from one souq to the next, they sort of blend together.
We shared a falafel salad for lunch and then watched 36’ers play Cairns in the NBL, they won. Brice Cotton scored over 50 points!!
After the game I went out and found where we were going tomorrow morning for a tour and the restaurant we booked for dinner a bit later. Everything isn’t always where google or Apple maps say they are.
At about 5:30 we set out for dinner, walking along side the creek, past a big mosqu, the Al Farooq Mosque, an impressive looking building with manicured lawns and really well maintained buildings, it looked almost brand new. We kept walking and got to the restaurant a bit before 6.
The restaurant was recommended to us, it served genuine local food. We ordered an Al Khayma Seafood Plate for Two and some water. It was so much food, a medium sized whole fish, shrimp, mussels, calamari, baby shark all on a sumptuous bed of rice, with a yoghurt sauce, a red sauce (possibly Muhammara) and a side salad! When we were done our waitress asked if we wanted to take the rest home, we declined.
We had a nice walk back along the creek, the sun had set and the night lights were shimmering off the waters of the creek.
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