How often do you visit old Dubai? I must admit I don't go often. I used to take our visitors there but since we haven't had any since the early covid days, we haven't been either.

I hadn't realised how much I had missed it until we took the kids for an abra ride last week.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if an abra ride was the right thing to do with them! They are 4 and 2.5 years old, but behaved much better on the boat than expected. No one tried to go for a swim, push his brother in or throw random things (e. g. my phone) in the creek waters 💦

In fact, they were so impressed with what they were discovering for the first time they literally didn't move and quietly took in the experience, a big smile on their faces.

We started from the Deira Old Souk Abra Station, where we were lucky to find an RTA parking space, and set over to the Bur Dubai Abra Station.

The short ride still costs a symbolic dirham and I hope it will stay like this forever! Seen from the water, the old town looks like straight out of an oriental fairy tale! ✨

On the other side lies a different world.

The boys were eager to explore it!

We walked from the Bur Dubai Abra Station through the old Souk towards the Al Gubaiba Marine Transport Station and there was so much to see, from colourful lamps over spices and cushions...

beautiful ceramic plates...

to clothing bargains, straw bags and much more!

If you've ever been to an old souk such as the medina of Tunis or the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, this will remind you of it! 💫

Arrived at Al Ghubaiba Marine Transport Station, we spent a long time watching passers-by feed the seagulls. There were literally hundreds of them.

The view on the creek with abras and dhows is impressive. This is probably not something you do or see every day...

In fact, it was all so exciting and impressive it took us some negotiating and bribing (a pair of Chinese kids' sunglasses each) to convince the boys to go back 😎

And just in case you were wondering- we took the first abra ride at 4 pm. Other passengers on the abra made space for our little family. It is easier to maintain social distancing in the souks though... We used plenty of hand sanitiser and changed the kids' clothes immediately after the second abra ride.

All in all we only walked a few hundred meters so this is a very easy outing to do with young kids. If you want to stay longer, sit down for a treat at Mazmi Cafe or Moroccan tea at Bait Al Wakeel Restaurant and soak in the view, visit the Dubai Museum in Al Fahidi Fort, explore the little streets near the Shiva temple... I promise you'll feel like you have taken a little trip! 🙌