Traditional Emirati Life in Old Dubai where it all Started S06 EP.101 | MIDDLE EAST Motorcycle Tour

Traditional Emirati Life in Old Dubai where it all Started S06 EP.101 | MIDDLE EAST Motorcycle Tour

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There's a statue made in traditional manner. Some more over here. Statue of a guy filling a water pot with water from the well. It's the first time I've seen a well in a kitchen; to use water more effectively.

This opening connects to the tower up there. This is the largest ring in the world, weighing about 64 kg. Assalam Alekum. Long Live Pakistan. We are giving Abrar a tour of our kitchen. Assalam Alekum and welcome back to the channel from Dubai. Today we are not going to show you Dubai's skyscrapers or something of that sort.

But we'll see old Dubai instead.... that's where it all started. Right now I'm in an area called Bur Dubai. The area on the other side of the canal behind me is called Dera. Almost everyone recommended to visit the Gold Souq in Dera.

Today we are going to visit a small village in Bur Dubai. There they have tried to depict the Emirati lifestyle. I have Salman here with me. And he's quite camera shy. He's gonna be with for today's trip.

So let's go see the village. Will also have some breakfast. We'll see if we can get Emirati breakfast. This place is called Al Seef. The first look at the place gives the impression of a souq.

I've been told this place was opened just 4 to 5 years back. Lets go and see how it is from inside. Gradually more people are coming. Still can't see too many tourists at the moment but it's quite early in the day.

People here like to stay out till late in the night. Shops are now being opened. Let's walk in this direction. There's a statue made in a traditional style. Some fish statues here because the harbor is just around the corner.

Perhaps to depict that fish used to be the main business of locals in the past. We can get a boat from here later and go see the Dera area. Everything here from cafes and restaurants is built in the old Arab style. That's what we see from the outside. Lets see how they look from inside. In here, you can see beautiful carpets.

The way they have adorned the ceiling with lamps is amazing. I had a chat with the shopkeeper. I did some recording as well but he said that he didn't want to be in the video. We're told that these carpets are from Afghanistan. While the lamps are from Turkey.

There aren't too many tourists these days but it was much better during the FIFA World Cup. Look at the construction style here. You can see the use of wood in house construction as was the old ways. They have tried to keep this model village as close to old traditional style as possible. There's one more thing.

The location of these cafes and restaurants by the sea is amazing. You can also see parked fishing boats. There are quite a few of them.

It's possible that they might still be used for fishing. Or they could just be here on display for tourists. We just went to a restaurant but their Emirati breakfast was already finished.

Right now we have Sangeeta from Nepal. She also speaks Hindi. We are in Al Finar restaurant for breakfast and it has been served. Sangeeta is gonna tell us more about it.

That's basically an Emirati tray. These are scrambled eggs with tomatoes. This is bajeela or broad beans.

These chickpeas are called dango. Emirati pancakes. Tandoor bread... something like a naan.

This is creamy cheese. That's jam. And that's Balaleet. What's that? Balaleet. That's sweet, right? Yes. This Emirati pudding called habisa. Is it sweet as well? Yes.

And that's tomato onion salad. And that's honey for pancakes. Emirati people eat honey with anything. Thank you very much. Our coffee has been served. Thank you. We have Arabic qahwa.

In connection with this dish, I'd like to remind you of Bahrain trip. I tried it in a Bahraini cafe where they served Iranian style food. Because their ancestors were from Iran. This is almost the same as that. These are sweet vermicelli with egg.

It was my first Emirati breakfast and it tasted great. It cost us 100 AED for two persons. This is a touristic area and that's why restaurants here can be a little expensive. But there are places where you can have the same breakfast for about half of this price.

Lets now go and see the rest of this souq. Here you can see fishing nets used in old times. These are made of steel. There's a cart behind the nets. These are sort of things that they have put on display.

The best thing about this place is how they have constructed it. I'm loving it. Reminds me of Souq Waqif. This is the main street here and here you'll mostly see souvenir shops for tourists. Most of the shops I've seen here so far are like that.

There's also the option to use a gold cart for tourists who don't want to walk in this heat. You can visit the whole souq in the cart. The main streets of the souq are quite lively. But some parts are still under developed. Anyways, this is the main street. It's a rather lively one and it will increase as more shops are now opening.

You will also see many Israeli tourists here. You'll notice many of them wearing a kipa. I've not seen many tourists enjoying such freedom even in Europe. There can be instances where Jewish people face rude behavior. But here they seem to roam freely without any trouble.

As you come out of the souq, you find yourself in this beautiful creek area. But it's somewhat different. The most prominent thing is the white color of buildings...

Whereas the ones in the souq are brown. The view here is really incredible. On the other side, you can see modern buildings and skyscrapers.

I've been told that the first modern buildings were built in that area. We'll definitely go there but before that I want to explore this area more. We may visit some Emirati houses to see how they look from inside. Sitting here, enjoying your meal or a cup of coffee with this view is wonderful.

Such places are my personal favorites. You can see that some houses have tower like structures on them. Wood has been used in this construction.

But, not all buildings have such towers. Salman, can you tell us what these towers are for? It's called bastakiya. Their purpose is to let the warm air in and while doing so, it would make it cooler. That's the main bazaar. And the buildings you are seeing right now may not seem to be a 5 Star hotel. But it's the Al Seef Heritage Hotel.

They even have Hilton here. Let me give you a glimpse from inside. We are not staying here but still I hope that we'll be allowed to record. Even the reception is made in a very traditional style. I think that's enough. We may not be allowed to go further in.

It's beautiful. You'll see many traditional hotels here, like this one. This souq, or Dubai creek as it was called before, used to be the main bazaar. When you come out of the souq, you find another similarly historical area.

It's an open air museum made where people used to live in older times. They have renovated that area for tourists to show them the old Arab lifestyle. I actually wanted to show you something like this. They have placed a boat here. It's called Al Fahidi boat.

This was used in the rowing competition. Just see the length of this boat. I remember seeing it from a distance, in some racing game. But it looked quite small. However, in reality it is much bigger. It has about 16 or 18 oars. That means around 36 people would sit in this boat.

It must be 32 or 35 meters in length. We have just entered the Al Fahidi historical neighborhood. Let's explore from inside. The floor is made of stones and the streets here are quite wide.

And on this side, there's sort of a plaza. In many old cities, you'll see a place like that for sitting. More like a place to socialize. It's quite different from the previous area. It's clearly a residential area. Because of how peaceful it is and there are trees as well.

The previous section was the market area so it's naturally a loud one. Let's see if we can find some house where we can enter. Another interesting thing.... Have you seen an ATM like this before? There are lanterns hanging in front and there's also a camera. They made sure to install a camera. It's such a nice and peaceful area.

Tourists are here but not too many. The text says... Traditional Emirati House. I think we can visit this one. Let's go and see the entrance. Salman, please go ahead and ask them. Assalam Alekum Upon asking, we are told that we can definitely go inside and make a video.

They will show us around and also explain the history. Waiting for the guide. Looks really beautiful though. I've just taken a tour and gathered some information from the tour guide.

So that I can show you everything. I'll do that one by one. It's a very interesting looking area. I think in order to understand a culture, it's important to learn how they lead their everyday life.

So I'll try to give you a tour of this Emirati house. It's a model house nevertheless as nobody lives here now. But we'll see how people lived here. Right next to the entrance is the majlis. As you can see that the door of majlis is quite small. Just to make people enter with their heads down in respect without violating privacy.

Here you can see a model sitting area of ​​how people sit in majlis. There's a carpet with cushions on the sides. People would also discuss their business deals here as shown in the model arrangement. This is very similar to what we call drawing rooms. After majlis, you can go into the courtyard. You can see a little girl taking water.

Over there, you see a man filling the water pot with water from the well. There are date trees here as well. Women are busy working with grinding stone and cooking food.

Over there someone is shown to be working to get butter from milk. You can see a black colored cloth on the forehead. It was worn by older or married women. There are different rooms by the courtyard. This is the winter room. It has blankets and an elevated bed. May be, to keep the blankets under the bed.

Here, they have a cot for the baby. You do see an AC here but I'm sure it was not here during the older times. Here you can see typical winter items such as moisturizing cream. Next to it, is a small kitchen. You can see tea items and coal in here.

It's all very interesting. Here you see the normal kitchen. Let's go inside. It's the first time I've seen a well in a kitchen; to use water more effectively. There are different types of pots... to show you how traditional kitchens used to look like. These days everything has been modernized.

But that's what things used to look like in the past. I think this is the last room. It's a summer room. This will give you an idea about the use of those towers. It's closed now but it used to let cool air come down here to keep the whole room cool. The bed is right under the shaft. That's the purpose of the tower that we saw before.

That was all from our short tour here. There's one more thing here. Lets show you this one as well. Here you can see a lot of gold. I'm told that a lot of gold had to be arranged in order to get married in old times; even today. I thought it was only a custom in the Indian subcontinent but it's here in Arab as well.

I've been told that a woman would get 1 kg, even 2 kg of gold at the time of marriage. Let me show you the Starbucks of this souq. At first I thought it to be fake as you won't see a Starbucks like this anywhere else. It's very unique. Sort of very similar to how the other shops and restaurants in the souq are. Let me give you a view from outside before we go in and have a cup of coffee.

Just wonderful how you can sit here and enjoy this beautiful view. It must be quite modern from the inside. Exactly as you would imagine.

The interior doesn't make you think that it's made inside a cultural building. It's quite modern just like any other cafe these days. There are many different types of boats to take you to Dera from Bur Dubai. Some are small motorboats with a loud engine. Some are electric with no noise at all. There are different booths here for that.

We got here after hardly a walk of 5 to 7 minutes. Here we saw the boats carrying people so we bought a ticket. The price is 2 AED and it's a 10 minute ride. So lets go and show you Dera.

As you can see all these people are waiting for their turn. And probably that's the boat in which we are gonna go. It's a small boat so we can capture better views. It's an open boat and that's another benefit. The electric boat is closed.

After coming out of the boat and crossing the road, you see the Grand Souq. The name says Grand Souq Dera. I thought it was the Gold Souq. But first comes the Grand Souq, through which we will pass to get to the Gold Souq. This side is definitely more crowded and lively.

The reason could be the fact that people come here for shopping. It's a wholesale market and it receives goods from all around the world. Am I correct? Yes you are. Look at that. That's what I was talking about.

The markets back there were mainly for tourists. Although there are buildings back there, most of them are souvenir shops. But it's a totally different story here. I can see the gate of gold souq from here. Gate no. 1 There could be more gates as well.

You can see it's jam packed. And not just the locals but tourists as well. So, let's show you the Gold Souq. But before anything else, there's something interesting here. This is the world's biggest ring, weighing 64 kg.

It's also mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records. Just look at the size. They have also displayed the Guinness certificate. You will see it right in front of the Gate no. 1 of the souq.

Doesn't look like a ring at all due to the sheer size of the thing. I don't know how big this souq is but we'll try to walk to the other end. According to what I read on the internet, there are about 380 shops here. Most of these shops are jewelry shops. You will find gold, diamond and platinum jewelry. Some shops also deal in silver.

But there are other shops as well. Such as these clothing shops. So you will find other items too. This souq is almost 50 years old, going back to 1970s. Used to be quite small but it has gotten much bigger with time. People from all around the world come here to buy gold.

It's quite well reputed to have pure gold items. For this reason, many people from India and Pakistan prefer to buy gold from here. Because here you find pure products. That's why this souq keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

Every year new shops are being opened here due to more business opportunities. You can see how crowded this market is. Of course there are tourists here. The business seems good.

I did talk to some shopkeepers but they were not comfortable in front of camera. They told me that they are quite happy and satisfied here as the business is doing great. Naturally, the business owner's satisfaction is a testimony to good business conditions. Just look at these enormous gold necklaces.

Check these out. Look like a sheet of gold. Must be at least 2 to 3 kg in weight... or more... The gold rate here is 1970 AED for 1 tola gold. Now, you can convert the AED to your own currency as per the current rates. I know many people are very interested in the rates. You can do the maths yourself.

Let's focus back on the souq. It's indeed a very big souq. One side takes you there and then there are many smaller streets branching out.

There's another street going in that direction. Let's go over to this street and see what's there. As a matter of fact, gold is all I see here. I'm not interested in buying though but I wanted to show it to you. It's the main tourist attraction here and had to be shown. Assalam Alekum. Long Live Pakistan.

We are giving a kitchen tour to Abrar. Yogurt kebab... Chicken saffron ... Seekh kebab mutton and chicken...

Lemon kebab... Chicken saffron once again... You all are most welcome... Especially if you mention Abrar... Long Live Pakistan. .. Hail the name of Ali... (4th Islamic Caliph and Imam) We've come to the most famous Iranian restaurant of Dubai, Al Ustadi.

Not just the locals but also people from Pakistan recommended me this place. It's a very unique sort of a place. There are numerous pictures of famous actors and celebrities who visited this restaurant. It keeps people occupied in a very interesting way. You certainly enjoy this environment. Our food has been served.

This is mix grill. Let me tell you about the items in it. This is chicken saffron. Then there's chicken shashlik. This is dry lemon chicken.

This is dry lemon mutton. Is it mutton or beef? It's beef. This one is shashlik beef. This one is yogurt; half chicken and half beef. There are fries as well. Some garlic paste... That's it.

And yes... We've also ordered saffron rice. As soon as they are served.... But we can try these things with bread as well. To be honest, I've tried their food once before and it was delicious. That's what has brought me back here. Their rates are reasonable as two people can eat in 100 AED.

Since I've been here once before, my favorite kebabs are the yogurt kebabs. Both dry lemon kebabs and saffron chicken. The shashlik was okay... nothing extra ordinary. But the other 3 are too good. You can just try it yourself. Al Ustadi didn't just have great food but the guy at the reception was also great.

I think he was the owner as he was in most of the photos. It was great. He also showed me the kitchen. Hopefully you must have enjoyed this vlog. It almost took our whole day. I tried my best to give you a tour of old Dubai.

Salman is standing back there. Thank you very much Salman. Pleasure is all mine, Abrar. Thank you so much for giving us your time. Will meet again. Don't forget to Like, Subscribe and Share.

See you in the next one. Allah Hafiz

2023-01-10 07:17

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