After the big souk we took the buses about 10 minutes to a
fresh produce and fish market. I know what you’re thinking. Fish market in the
heat of Saudi Arabia?? More on that in a bit.
The produce market was huge, and the items available were
lovely, even if some of them I had no idea what they were! A surprisingly high
number of items were large people were very high water content – melons of all
kind, cantaloupe, eggplant, squash, and more.
Lots of wonderfully friendly people who wanted to say hello, some of
them asking me to take their picture. One older Arab gentleman said hello and
started telling me about the market, that it had operated in this spot for more
than 100 years. Two young men were insistent I take their picture together –
all they wanted was to see it and they laughed and shook my hand and thanked
me.
Just down the alleyway was the fish market. There was a roof
overhead but it was certainly open air, and with a temperature of 102 degrees I
really expected an odor or two. I was
pleasantly surprised, though. It certainly smelled of fish – everything on
display was fresh caught that morning in the Persian Gulf just a few hundred
meters away, and such a market is how fish had been sold for centuries so I
have to give them some credit for knowing what they’re doing.
The wares were displayed on large platters or aluminum
counters. From shrimp and tiny fish to table sized, you could get a wide
assortment. I must say, though, that one fellow had the biggest shrimp I’ve
even seen. Some of the people on the
tour told me how cheap it used to be and they would come over with coolers and
go home and stock their freezers. The prices they quoted surprised me though,
because at the prices they quoted I think I could get enough shrimp to feed
myself and about ten other people until we couldn’t walk!
One young man had the job of scaling fish (you could also
get your shrimp peeled and deveined for almost nothing), and I heard him
calling out when I walked by. I looked over and he pointed to my camera, at the
fish he was working on, and then held it up for me to take a picture!
After the market we went to a castle ruins near the coast.
We were only there for a few minutes, and the whole thing was fenced off as an archaeological
site and to keep out with severe penalties for trespassing! So I only ducked
under the fence for a few minutes to get the only possible unobstructed view –
don’t tell, ok?
The last stop before heading back to Dhahran was at a spot
on the coast. It was interesting because there was a small fleet of fishing
boats anchored nearby. The boats are dhows – big tall flat bottom boats that
must be good in the shallow water near the coast – I don’t think I’d want to
get very far out to see in one them!
All in all an interesting day, and the cost for the tour was
SR15 – about $3.50 – and a good test for the new camera, which performed
perfectly!
