'The Pale Bedouin' - Tales From The Desert

One of the things I really appreciated about Dubai is that it has excellent small museums that do a great job of giving an insight into the region, the culture and traditions - and what Dubai used to be like before oil was found and before it was decided to turn it into a tourist destination. And what's even better: all but one of the museums offer free admission allowing even the low-paid workers a chance to soak up some culture on their day off and the locals to come back as often as they want.

On our first day there we saw this pretty little museum displaying boats and artifacts from the time when diving for pearls and the consequent pearl trade is what kept the economy going (actually pearl trading is also what kept Kuwait going during the same period as it was a regional business).

(The Diving Village, Bur Dubai)

Talk about using the nautical theme to the fullest:

(Phones at the Diving Village)

(Detail from the Diving Village)

(From the Diving Village)

There is also an excellent heritage village next to the diving village. It aims to give an insight into life 'in the good old days' and to showcase especially the Bedouin culture. There was a Bedouin woman sitting on the ground and cooking traditional foods but I was not allowed to take a picture of her (it is also taboo in Dubai to photograph women - just as is the case in Kuwait).

I did get this picture, though, of an elderly man lying in his hut, coffee ready for visitors interested in hearing his stories about life before high rise buildings:

(Elderly man, heritage village)

(Details from a wall, heritage village - displaying the traditional Arabic coffee pot that is also a symbol of the Arabian hospitality)

Talking about the good old days: the Arabic music that was playing in the heritage village came from this tape recorder:

(Old but still working - the tape recorder in the heritage village)

Many of the museums lie side by side and the next one was a beautifully restored house with displays explaining the story of life and death (and everything in between) according to Islam. It was explained so that it would be easy to understand for non-Muslims and I also saw a local who had brought a foreign visitor there to give him a sort of introduction - much easier than trying to explain it himself.

The place is government-funded and this man - caught in a quiet moment in the courtyard - is in charge of the place and very eager to distribute leaflets about Islam (he even had them in our language):

The exhibition was nicely done with light displays:

(Display showing places of importance to Islam - here a section of Saudi Arabia including Mecca)

We particularly like this explanation - it certainly puts things in perspective:

(Explanation of hell fire - in dimensions that you can relate to)

Apart from the exhibition, the house itself was very nice:

(View of the courtyard and upper floor)

And it had beautiful details:

(Wall details)

Not to mention great views over the roofs and wind towers:

(Roofs with traditional wind towers - built to bring ind ventilation into the houses and blow away some of the heavy humidity at the same time)

(Close-up of a wind tower)

(Dubai creek through a hole)

After that there was another restored house that was turned into a small museum dedicated to the architecture of Dubai and many other places in the United Arab Emirates.

(From a reconstruction of what the city used to look like - although Dubai is flat...)

(View from the upper floor - with Dubai creek in the background)

I quite liked the toilet signs:

(Men's toilet)

(Women's toilet)

(Birds on the rooftop)

This is one of the old original towers of which a few are left throughout the city:

It was a Friday (for many low-paid workers it is their only weekly day off) and that meant lots of people on the streets - but this was particularly ironic: selling fake DVDs and CDs in front of the Ministry of Finance!

(Friday DVD and CD sales in front of the Ministry of Finance)

During some of the weekdays when K was working, I went back to the same area and explored further:

(Typical narrow side street - delivery scooters and a mosque)

(Sea gull drinking from a puddle - or maybe enjoying its own image?)

Near the Dubai creek there is an area called Bastakiya - it is a very atmospheric and quiet place where all the houses are restored, traditional houses with wind towers and narrow lanes in between (Bastakiya on Wikipedia):

(From Bastakiya)

(One of the wind towers in Bastakiya)

(From Bastakiya)

(Wind towers, Bastakiya)

(Early afternoon shadows, Bastakiya)

(Local man in Bastakiya)

Bastakiya is also home to a number of small artists' galleries with photo displays and small art exhibitions:

(Bastakiya, courtyard of a gallery)

(Bastakiya, courtyard of a gallery)

And there is a lovely café as well where I enjoyed to sit down in the shade of a big, green tree and sip on a minted lemon (as the name suggests it's lemon juice and mint blended together) my absolute favorite drink in this region:

(Minted lemon at Bastakiya Art Café)

Of course this would not be complete without a plate of dates and sweet pastry:

(Dates and sweet pastry, Bastakiya Art Café)

Bastakiya is also home to the famous 'Local House' restaurant that serves camel burgers. To Vikram & Brian: I did not try it, sorry. There was a cute camel lying right around the corner (pics below) and suddenly I did not feel hungry anymore...

(Camel burger, anyone?)

(Bastakiya)

Arabic culture is readily on display everywhere - here at the edge of Bastakiya outside an Arabic restaurant:

(Arabic coffee on the pot, traditional clothes ready to try, Bastakiya)

And of course the obligatory camel:

(Camel smile, Bastakiya)

(Close up camel)

(The camel's owner busy reading the newspaper in his Bedouin tent)

At another edge of the Bastakiya area is the excellent Dubai Museum and Dubai's oldest fort:

(Courtyard at Dubai Museum)

(Never seen this before but clever - a hut for sleeping outside in the terribly hot summer)

(Dubai Museum)

(Sleeping arrangements in a traditional palm hut from the time of pearl diving before oil was found)

(Sleeping arrangements in a palm hut - apparently it ventilates well in summer and can be isolated in winter)

(Dubai Museum)

Inside they have done a very nice job of trying to recreate the old Dubai and particularly the souq area - with wax dolls, sounds, sand on the floor and smells so real that it really does take you back in time:

(Men having coffee and smoking a sheesha - this could be 2010 as well)

(The spice shop)

(Buying fabrics to take to the tailor)

(At the tailor's - this looks about the same in 2010)

(The grocery store)

(Quran school for boys)

(Men trading pearls)

(Woman at home doing embroideries in her bedroom)

The pearl divers really were the unsung heroes of their time - they made very deep dives wearing only a nose clip, leather finger protectors, a basket to collect the oysters, a 5kg rock to pull them down and a rope to pull them back up. Each diver would make 50 dives per day (!) each lasting 3 minutes or so.

(Diving for pearls)

On a different day I went to have a look at the first formal school in Dubai - established in 1912:

(Al-Ahmadiya school, Deira)

(A renovated classroom as it used to look)

(Inscriptions on the school walls)

(The school yard - used for exercises and games as well as for gatherings)

Rigth next to the Al-Ahmadiya school is the Deira heritage house (another restored house). I went on an afternoon and had it all to myself: