on May 14, 2003lots of shops selling everything that a visitor needs - souvenirs, Arabian heritage items, pashminas, copy watches, fake handbags, cheap jeans/trainers, skatewear, you name it...
Very good for kids' & men's clothes, women's clothes tend to be rather cheap-looking and only in small sizes.
You know you are in the right place if you're in small alleys lined with mainly clothing shops and some souvenir places, both sides of a busy road with car park areas. Men will whisper to you 'copy watch...DVD...'
On display are a bewildering range of the basic fake items. If they trust you, you may get access to other brands etc. Inspect any purchase carefully and do not expect watches to work for long: consider them decorative costume jewellery and you won't go far wrong.
NB: From May - Oct it will be hot in the close alleys but the shops are a/c & they will bring you a drink if you ask. There are water machines all over the place (Masafi) they take 1 dirham coin for bottle.
Expect to spend at least an hour looking for what you want...10am onwards, closed for lunchtime siesta, open til about 10pm.
Fake/copy anything - much higher standard than those bought in Med, as they come from the Far East.
After a raid, there may not be any good merchandise. Bear in mind that current stock will always vary. If you stay for any time, show a picture of what you are looking for and it may be possible for better suppliers to source it for you, or similar.
Must buy: mosque alarm clock.
Warning: this trade is completely illegal and I in no way condone such flagrant contravention of the law nor would I indulge in such behaviour at any time.
What they ask, minus about 30%, but haggle - offer cash, offer hard currency, see what you can get away with. You may get a good price for more than one item.
on July 7, 2003
on March 23, 2003
