Arab Street
Tuesday, June 6, 2006

After the rain let up, Valerie and I took a cab to Arab Street. The area is mostly Muslim and has cute little shops lining the streets. Most of the shops had textiles from all over Asia, Thai silk, Indonesian batiks, and Indian silks. There were also some Oriental rug shops, basket shops and little cafes. We had a great time poking around the shops and learning about carpets. They actually have workshops where you can learn about the different kinds of carpets. There are silk, cotton, wool, natural dyed, hand dyeds, hand knotted, machine knotted, Persian, Indian, Kashmir, Afghan...it's mind boggling. And all the different patterns! At the end of the street is the Sultan Mosque, a very imposing structure.