The Gold Souk

A couple weeks ago we spent the day in the Gold Souk. We had tried to go the week earlier, but could not find a place to park, so we gave up. This time, we arrived in the morning – and still struggled to get a spot. The Gold Souk is an area of several blocks with one tiny shop after another, most of them selling jewelry. Part of it is only a walking area, and on the fringes there are narrow streets.
Aside from gold, the area has many shops selling tourist trinkets. As we walked along, we were continually approached by vendors asking us if we were interested in fake designer watches, handbags, and sunglasses. We when said we would look, they led us down side streets and up to their “secret” stores which were literally rooms the size of a very small bedroom. They nervously looked over their shoulders when we entered the buildings and quickly unlocked the doors, ushered us in and locked the doors behind us. One time, someone knocked on the door and the vendor became very nervous, put some stuff away and quietly went to his peephole. It was his associate, so he relaxed and let him in.
The fun of the souk is the haggling over the prices. It turns out that Zoe is actually very good at it. We found her a belly dancing head piece and the vendor initially asked 150 dhs. Zoe smiled and offered him 20 dhs. He laughed and then realized that he was going to have to deal with her. They settled on 30 dhs. From another shop she got a belly dancing outfit for 35 dhs (about $12). (He insisted that his cost was 30). The best price Rick was able to get from another shop was 70!