Quiet Friday Afternoon at the Blue Souk in Sharjah, U.A.E.

Many people who travel to Dubai focus only on Dubai, never leaving to explore the surrounding area. This is understandable, as the emirate of Dubai is a fabulous and unique Middle Eastern destination. It is, however, just one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. One of the others that is really worth visiting, yet also usually overlooked by tourists, is the emirate of Sharjah.

Sharjah is immediately east of Dubai and an easy ride away by car, taxi or bus. I actually lived in Sharjah for a while in 2010. One place I liked visiting during those days was the Blue Souk. So on a recent trip back to the U.A.E. I took Dan to see Sharjah, including the Blue Souk.

We rode in from Dubai late one Friday morning. You know how when you’re traveling, you’re sometimes not paying all that much attention to what day of the week it is? That is why I didn’t realize it was Friday when we decided to go to Sharjah. It wouldn’t have mattered at all except that on Fridays in Sharjah, the most strict and conservative emirate in the U.A.E., literally every single business shuts down for hours in the late morning and early afternoon for Friday prayers.

While I was living in Sharjah, it was very interesting to experience a total shutdown of the city once a week. The only other place I’ve experienced something similar in the Middle East is in Israel on Shabbat. However, on this particular day when I went back to Sharjah, I only realized it was Friday when it became evident that nothing at all was open.

So much for showing Dan around Sharjah all day. We instead headed to the adjacent emirate of Ajman to eat lunch. Afterwards we headed back to Sharjah to see what we could do. Fortunately, the exotic Blue Souk had opened in the early afternoon so we got to go inside.

Also called the Central Souq, the Blue Souq was built in 1976. It is called the Blue Souq because of the striking blue and white tiles which decorate the outside of the building. All the other souks I know of are outdoors. This one is indoors. It is really more of a shopping center than a souk. Its design is very unique, consisting of eight barrel vaulted blocks. Its more than 600 shops on two floors are filled with gold, jewelry, perfume, scarves and other treasures of the Middle East.

When we arrived, the Blue Souk was quiet, of course. That is because Sharjah is a very quiet place in general. It was also nearly empty because it had just opened. Still, despite the fact that not a lot of people were there, it seemed to me to have gone a bit downhill from earlier years. In 2010, it was a thriving marketplace with upscale shops. Now it seemed that its vibe had dimmed and the shops were not quite as nice.  Nevertheless, I’m glad we went because I do enjoy revisiting former favorite places.

This is probably the best photo I’ve ever captured of the alluring exterior of the Blue Souk. It shows just a portion of the front; the entire building is much larger. If you ever travel to Sharjah, you might want to put this unique shopping center on your list of places to check out. The Blue Souk may not be in its heyday, but it is still unique, picturesque and worth visiting.