Most people think of fancy malls, the Burj Khalifa, and the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab when they think of Dubai, but there are 3.5 million workers who live here and I got to see where they shop and eat out during my recent extended layover in Dubai.
Exploring The Other Side Of Dubai In Deira
I was staying at the Hyatt Regency on Al Khaleej Street in Al Corniche, Deira…an older part of Dubai. With the sunset bringing some relief to the extreme heat, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood…just because it was a part of Dubai I was not familiar with.
The Gold Souk is nearby, which does cater to visitors, but this area seemed really geared toward the local population. There were cell phone stores, restaurants, coffee shops, clothing outlets, and barbershops that were hardly luxurious, but certainly make sense when you consider over 90% of Dubai’s population is immigrant workers and they may endure slave-like conditions, but most get time off as well and many have families.
There were a lot of aggressive touts for counterfeit luxury products. These guys roam the streets and approach folks like me, saying things like “Louis Vuitton purse? Rolex watch?” When I was a kid I use to buy fake stuff but I’ve found over the years that you get what you pay for.
I had heard that this area has all sorts of secret passages and doors that lead into backrooms filled with knock-off products. While I wasn’t courageous enough to film it, I took one guy up on his offer to show me his store. He led me down an alley and into a narrow door that had only an elevator inside.
The elevator took us up a couple floors, where I stepped out into what appeared to a floor with several braiding shops, appealing to the massive population of Sub-Saharan workers from Africa. We went down the hall to an unmarked door, where he knocked three times.
The door opened and I entered a room filled from floor to ceiling with fake products, like Gucci and Prada bags and Patek Philippe and TAG Heuer watches. There were fake Apple products too, from phones to watches to headphones.
I didn’t buy anything…my wife certainly does not need another purse! 😉
But I did find it an interesting side of Dubai that you don’t often see.
With my still stomach upset, I did not eat, but there were several local shawarma and kebab places that looked very appetizing. Had I been feeling better, I would have sought out masnaf and knafeh.
I’m not sure I’ll ever return, but if you are looking for fake goods in Dubai, they are certainly available…
Key takeaway in a single sentence: “I’m not sure I’ll ever return…’
Not sure but, avoid bringing the counterfeit items back into the US. There seems to be restrictions on how much fakery is tolerated. In Europe it borders on criminal.. If you crave the knock offs DJT sells a line of overpriced cheap junk