The origin of modern shopping, experienced within ultra-futuristic shopping malls in the most absolute comfort is to be found without doubt in the typical and very lively souks. These are places in which the traditional art of loquacity of the Arab merchants is most energetically expressed and commercial negotiating predominates, going far beyond the actual value of the object being traded. What counts is to immerge yourself totally in this world of art and crafts, where it is not unusual for pieces of considerable taste, style, value and beauty to be discovered. Pieces that speak of the history and culture of a people whose past is lost in antiquity, and which frequently mirror eras of a more or less remote past; styles, both artistic and crafted, handed down through time, getting to our times with an added wealth of value.
It is not the visitor that decides to view the souk merchant’s wares: it is he that "chooses" the visitor, putting himself forward with smiling determinedness, while he tries to start a conversation, often expressing himself in more than one language (especially when "classical" English seems to achieve little response). The moment a visitor shows some interest in the merchandise, singling out a specific object from among the others, the negotiation immediately takes off: whether it is one of the innumerable metal, clay or wooden camels or horses, a colourful shisha (also called narghile or hubble-bubble), a flowing robe or a fascinating accessory, a valuable fabric in captivating colours; or then again, a vase, a cup or a tray, a precious stone, a necklace, or spices, dried fruit or legumes, objects useful for a desert crossing or in domestic life, a sabre or a stiletto, it matters little. That particular object will be the very best of its kind that ever existed, and available at that special price for just a few minutes! Except, when the buyer manages to resist the onslaught of the export merchant, then the price drops, and not just a little, until the figure that the merchant had set himself in the first place is reached, and which, in some way, the buyer also wanted to reach. In any case, it will have been a very amusing negotiation, during which the merchant will also have suggested other similar or matching objects to be combined with the first (since "it is better to sell two articles rather than one"!), probably forcing the purchaser into a condition of downright uncertainty due to the fact that the merchant just never stops talking ...!
An agreeable experience not only from the souk’s "consumistic" viewpoint, but which portrays an undeniable cultural and social fascination, since it promotes contact with aspects that in more refined environments fail to emerge: the genuineness, the desire to communicate and the spiritual richness of a people and a territory where the ancient and the modern, past and present, art and legend, history and skilful dexterity, culture and faith, all converge, flank and merge one into the other.
A “trip” to the souks is an encounter with a "parallel", timeless world, which doesn’t represent an alternative to the shopping mall, but it is simply its forefather.