souks and shopping

[Travel2Learn]

The shore excursions in Oman and travel guides for Dubai include souks. My next cruise is on the Voyager, Barcelona to Dubai, November 28- December 19, 2011. Does anyone have suggestions for Christmas gifts? Do the shore excursions in Oman allow enough time in the souks? Specifically, I was thinking about what to buy nephews and niece, ages 20-24, their parents, my elderly mother, my boyfriend, friends, etc.. Suggestions for other ports on the cruise are also welcomed. Gold cartouches in Luxor are one idea, but too expensive for all of them. Will merchants set up tents where the ship docks? All help is welcomed, especially what to buy for the men!

[gdlamberth]

Might want to post your question on this board, too.


http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32

Greg

[RachelG]

My son lived in Egypt for a while. Couple of things he got for me: a beautiful brass vase with engraving of Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics and the like. It is pretty large, but I am sure they would have smaller ones.
A hand made box filled with 4 bottles of different oils made from local plants. One is a very strong minty smell that is great for opening your sinuses if you have an infection.

[xrvlcruiser]

Inexpensive pashminas in the souk in Oman, also saffron at a good price.

[Travelcat2]

Inexpensive pashminas in the souk in Oman, also saffron at a good price.


Thanks so much for letting us know this. We have dear friends that would really appreciate some saffron:D

[Gilly]

I'm always a little hesitant to leave yet another link to my blog, but if a few pics of the souk in Muscat would be interesting/useful, then you can find them here

http://elegantsufficiency.squarespace.com/blog/2008/4/1/in-the-souk.html

As others have suggested, oils and spices are a great thing to buy in this part of the world. There are also many white cotton garments which could be interesting for your gentlemen! For women, the scarves are all over the place - we were travelling east-west and found the prices increased day by day - probably many originated in China, were the cheapest in Cochin India, but gradually became more expensive until Egypt, when the sellers gave up trying after they found we'd bought elsehwere. shoes and those pretty sequinned slippers are a agreat buy for the women too - the sequinned slippers have folded down backs so size isn't quite so critical. Sizes are small - I wear a US 9 or 10 and had to buy the biggest they could find when I shopped in Muscat. I believe silver is a good buy there too, but we didn't bring any home.

Incidentally, the following day's blog entry details the visit to the mosque - well worth a visit but not without a couple of probs. Forewarned is forearmed - and surprising how many people really didn't pay much attention to the advice offered re dress. The mosque in Oman is by far the strictest we have come across when it comes to covering up.

[xrvlcruiser]

Gilly . . terrific blog, I remember reading it at the time - and great photos!

By the way, the white - and other colors - cotton garments make terrific robes . . very comfortable to wear around the house.

[Gilly]

Oooh yes, the quality of the cotton makes for great robes and stuff. And as always, I remember "another thing" just after I clicked send. In the Dubai spice market photo on the blog, you can see a pile of blue balls...they are indigo and you put them in the washing machine with your jeans to keep them blue. They'd make a great stocking filler for anyone who wears blue jeans.

I have no idea what the yellow ones are - perhaps a clever soul around here can tell us? They look like sulphur, but what on earth would one do with a ball of that?