Both banks of the Creek, by night and by day — 2022 and 2024.
<div>On both banks of the Creek there is another Dubai. Not the one with the towers. The one with the souks, the fabric warehouses, the grocers open late. You cross from one bank to the other on an abra, a small water taxi: standing on a wooden plank, for one dirham.</div><div>I went at night, when the only light comes from the shop signs. In an alley, a man straps a parcel to his bicycle. Two others fold sheets on a shiny floor. The abras cross. The gulls circle the lamp posts.</div><div>Later I came back by day. In the Deira spice souk there was a heap of dried flowers in bright red. In March 2024, during Ramadan, in the old town, cloths were laid on the ground for iftar, the meal that breaks the fast. Water bottles and oranges sat in rows, waiting for the sun to set.</div>
