Bastakiya in Dubai

I've been wanting to write more about Dubai lately, to share a bit of our lives out here in the desert, to include you in how it's changing and growing.

One of my favorite haunts in Dubai is Bastakiya, which is the oldest part of town...something new and gleaming for another day I suppose....I love the textures and patterns of Bastakiya. One can spend a lot of time just photographing the area, go back after a week and find yet more angles and perspectives.

One of the earliest settlements in Dubai, Bastakiya is on the banks of Dubai Creek and was reconstructed some time back to a series of courtyard houses, they way they used to be I suppose. Now, these have a mix of art galleries, boutique hotels, cafe's, gift shops for traditional items and several museums as well. It's most lively on saturdays in the winter, when it takes on a carnival atmosphere, and even has a few camels for joyrides. My favorite part of Bastakiya is the restoration house, where artisans lovingly restore and create new gypsum tiles like they did in the old days. When I visited they even gifted me a few tiles, which I truly treasure.

More information on Wikipedia.