Fish market sunset

No posts for 2 days - time zone travel east, a chance to sleep and the big wedding slowed me down.
First up for my dull musings are a few posts finishing up the Dubai experiences....
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    My New Years eve Dubai Hop on- Hop off bus tour package included a river cruise to see city sights from the water but my late start and the 2 PM ending of all tours for the day cut my access to the ride - I figured I could find the Dhow River Cruise spot on my own and get in the 5:30 hour-Long cruise. It was marked on the map and I figured out the Metro grid so I headed over to the Birj Palm metro stop to check it out.
  This area is loaded with residential housing and bustling street level retail. A super model of smart growth planning with all kinds of apartment housing and street retail a short walk to the Metro and a major bus hub - if only we had oil money to do that back home...
My first impression out of the station door was a ripe smell of fish.  The wafting waves of smell told me there was fresh fish, old fish and shrimp - universal code for identifying the dock area, fishing boats and maybe a tour boat or two....
I went hunting for Dhow.
From the Metro station you could see the boats all lined up on the Dubai Crerk So I headed over there - no Dhow - but I did get there in time to see a beautiful Arabian sunset. Very warm.

 Having failed the mission as the sun set at the last cruise time I headed back to the Metro and picked up the fishy scent and followed my nose to the fish market.
It was abuzz with fish, and prawns and many other creatures I couldn't recognize but had market value. The sellers the buyers the scales and gutters were all at work.

  I have found many contrasts in Dubai as old meets new, rich meets poor and tradition meets capitolism.
  The fish market was old - right next door to futuristic transit building. Fish prepping is an ancient process and there were no machines in this huge expanse of fish and smells.

  After being offered many fish to buy from all the sellers, and buying none....i left to head back home disappointed I didn't get a cruise but very happy to have experienced some real underbelly of Dubai life - much more the norm of real life for most of the people.  One contrast of note... in the blind covered malls in the over belly of life here retail sales wait for the money to come to them...and it does....at the fish market, and everywhere else oozing in real life every dollar is chased - its hard to sell fish and make a living - especiallnd obviously easier



   As I was about to enter the station I was startled from a loud noise that for a second sounded like an air raid siren starting up but as I turned around to face the high decibel pitch I saw a huge mosque and the bassy siren voice started singing prayers over a very loud sound system.  Then the other mosques started their loud, less than melodic to my ears , daily audio ritual. In my spot I could hear, at least 4 of them ...
   And then the horizon darkened as the sun finished it's work for the day and left for view a few sunset lit vapor trails..... I'm a first timer for sundown in the Arabias and thrilled to be in the energy cloud of everyone's devotion - more real life stuff here.
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BTW i looked on a better map - i missed Dhow by about 10 blocks on the other side of the creek bend...so glad i did...these vapor trails were brighter
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I'm in India now - its saturday here as you are packing in Friday..have I got stories..the wedding was delightful - part deux of Buju and Als  big Indian wedding adventure .. and part 3 is The big party Sunday night.....