Souks of Tripoli

Photo by Sherry Ott

I took a bus further north to Tripoli and met a friend there who showed me around the new city and promised to take me to the old souks. I tried to be very clear that I wanted to see where the locals shopped and I wanted it to be dirty and old. He understood. As we walked into the Gold souk, I stopped, sighed, and smiled…this was it…this is what I was looking for. Narrow, crowded paths that wove deep into a maze that I would have no hope of finding my way out of alone. People selling food and drinks door to door and women pushing through the crowd with their hands full of bags of produce for the day.

My guide took me to the food souk where I was greeted with hanging carcasses, smelly fish, and colorful produce. It was loud, the path beneath my feet was disgusting, and I loved every minute of it. My guide left me for 2 hours alone to simply wander the souk and take photos – I was in market heaven. The best part was that I was the only foreigner I saw all day. I’m pretty sure I was the only one with a camera also! People were friendly and often asked to have their photo taken. There were dark little offshoots and stairways branching out in every direction beckoning me and my camera.

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Written by  Sherry Ott.

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