The whole area is really quite big with the biggest area devoted to the Fruit and Vegetable Market. There is a central marketplace, as well as several rows of stores running parallel to the marketplace selling the same things (I think maybe more in bulk though). Anyway we went for a walk around the market itself and ended up acquiring an old Arabic man with a wheelbarrow who proceeded to collect our purchases and follow us around. As you would imagine, everything was cheap, but the one thing I can’t quite work out is why all the stalls sell the same produce… it isn’t broken down into types of produce at all, but rather everyone seems to have more or less the same things at the same price. I imagine the guys that run them probably build some sort of relationship with returning customers over time because realistically you only need to go to the first stall through the doorway for everything you need.
Our old Arabic porter took our purchases out to the car for us and when Kerry tried to give him some money he proceeded to go through an “I am breathless” performance… as well as conveying the need for some stuff for his Asthma. Not sure why because she actually asked him how much he wanted rather than just handing over some money to him. Anyway I think he gave up after one more note was handed over. Saves carrying stuff but sometimes it just isn’t worth the hassle!
We also went and walked around the Omani Souq… it should actually be called the drive-thru souq! It is all under one roof with open sides and you can actually drive up to all the stalls and purchase from the comfort of your car if you so choose. There really isn’t much there that isn’t in other places within the Central Market but it is a good place to pick up cheap Frankincense and try to ingnore the smell of dried fish!
Not far from there is the Garden Souq, which is more or less a collection of small gardening shops along one of the back streets. Don't know how come we didn't know this was there before now! Believe it or not most of the plants are actually quite cheap (I guess we automatically thought desert = expensive plants). They also sell a variety of mostly terracotta pots of all shapes and sizes… also cheap! So we now have several pots sitting around outside, plus quite a few flowers stretching their little feet into the (somewhat sandy) soil. We also picked up a hedge trimmer… you may have noticed from the latest “rain” picky that the hedge is now straight! No more waves!
We had a drive around the outer part of the livestock souq and smelt the fish market as we went past (that was enough)! But at the back of where the sheep and goats are kept we came across the camel market. Once again, don’t really know why we hadn’t seen this before. I just presumed it would be a little marketplace where people bring their camels to be sold. It is actually a big area with lots of fences in various states of fallingness, full of camels of various sizes and colours. After only seeing the odd camel in the back of a ute driving down the road, it was a little surprising to see so many in one place… we will have to go for a return visit!
Must say the brown fluffy camels are rather cute (well as far as camels go)... must be their winter coat!
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