A Magic Carpet Ride

Our good intentions of getting up early again and going to the gym flew out the window and instead we had a bit of a sleep-in.

Eventually up, organised and out the door into a cab to Sharjah and the Blue Souk in search of Persian rugs.

The cab driver was pleasant and we seemed to make reasonably good time to Sharjah under the circumstances of the traffic. The cost of the cabfare was 30 Dirhams – roughly $10, which when considering the distance we travelled, was pretty good value.

We arrived at the Blue Souk and, although we’d never seen it before, immediately recognised the building. Strangely enough, the whole building is lined in blue ceramic tiles. It’s really beautiful and is constructed in the old Arabian style.

We go inside and there are very few people about. It’s just beautiful inside as well, and we take in the beauty of the ceilings and balustrades. It’s very large. Downstairs there are lots of jewellery shops. The carpet shops are upstairs so we made our way up to level 2, where we were greeted by an Arabic man in a white dishdash. He was very polite and inquisitive as to what we were looking for. We told him we were looking at carpets and he indicated that there was plenty to choose from, which there was indeed. There were dozens of shops, and I could feel a ‘too much choice’ conniption coming on. As we did in the gold souk, we simply chose a shop and went inside.

The Indian owner was again very pleasant and eager for a sale. We told him what we were after and we were requested to take a seat while rug after rug after rug was rolled (with enormous ceremony) before us. I was half expecting Cleopatra to pop out of one. The rugs were just divine and it became difficult to choose between them. We were offered cups of mint tea to help clarify our minds and influence decisions. This must have worked, because finally Mary-Rita made her choice. Now for the haggling. This went on for awhile and I was very amused at the tactics used by both parties in trying to negotiate a fair price. Mary-Rita really is quite the bargainer, and I was impressed with her skills. She eventually settled upon a price with your man and they both seemed happy. In the meantime, I was looking for a much smaller carpet for my bedroom and, as usual, the first one he brought out was exactly the one I wanted. We played the haggling game as well for a couple of minutes before I pulled some cash from my wallet (slightly under half of what he was asking) and offered it over to him. My bid was accepted and we were all happy. Invoices were written, rugs were bagged up and we were good to go.

Your man offered to call a taxi for us to take us back to Dubai, which we gratefully accepted. However, we figured that while we were in Sharjah and the Blue Souk, it would be a crime against consumerism not to look at the other stores in the building. So, off we went in search of some more bargains, which we found. Some souvenirs and some cushion covers and pashminas all came home in our possession. Eventually, loaded down with goodies and carpets, we managed to get some assistance downstairs and outside looking for a cab. Two cabs refused us, not wanting to go to Dubai. It was almost as bad as being in Sydney. We had been told to look for a particular cab company, but by this stage we would have taken anyone who would get us back to the hotel as quickly as possible.

Eventually a cab driver agreed to get us back there. He was a Pakistani man who had lived in Dubai for 18 years. He has 10 children in Pakistan and is supporting his whole family on the money he earns. We asked him if he liked Dubai and he said that he didn’t, but really did not have a choice as to whether he stayed or not. He had to stay to support his family. He worked all the time and had few friends in Dubai. He only goes back to Pakistan very infrequently and he misses his family. It’s all a bit sad when one hears about the sacrifices people make to ensure that their families are cared for.

We made it back to our hotel (cab fare 25 Dirhams) with just enough time to get dressed at a reasonable pace and meet up with the others to go to the Burj Al-Arab for our High Tea experience. Pity we couldn’t have flown to the Burj on our magic carpets.

All in all a very successful morning’s work.