Dubai at night is much like any other city; full of people rushing from one part of their day to the next. Cabs are honking, bus brakes are screeching and restaurants are beginning to buzz with evening chatter. Aside from the sounds of call to prayer and its brief pause, I could have been rushing through New York on a busy Friday night. The buildings go up and out for as far as the eye can see, which is only amplified by every inch of their edges being covered in millions of lights. There is an indescribable energy to a place that, in less than a generation, has gone from a nomadic desert culture to what has been described as "Las Vegas on steroids". As we moved through the crowded side streets, around cars and through groups of boisterous people out for a good time, we meandered our way through the souks (or market places). We haggled for silly souvenirs until we came upon the edge of the water. The Dubai Creek is a salt water inlet and arguably one of the most historic places you can visit in the center of this emirate. Here, for just a moment, a visitor can actually get a glimpse of this trading port which has been referenced as far back as the ancient Greeks. Much like everything else in Dubai, it has now been super-sized in order to increase trade. For roughly a dollar, you can climb into one of the many abras (or water taxis) and criss-cross along the water. Here at night, somewhere in the middle of the creek, it becomes very quiet. The sound of the people and the cabs and the buses begin to fade as you finally get a slightly less obstructed view of this historic treasure.
