Is a trade fair a fair trade?

Today was a good day.  I love it when I'm pleasantly surprised by something.  Over the past week, I drove past the Doha Exhibition Centre numerous times on my way to here and there and noticed signs indicating it was hosting a 'Trade Fair'.  I thought this was a 'trade fair' ie for retail owners and wholesalers to showcase but Mr A informed me last night it was open to the public.  On Twitter it was described as 'Souk Waqif in A/C'... that was sounding like a decent way to spend the morning.  So with a free morning ie no pool, nail or hair appointments (cos that's what I do all week?!), I drove by on the nursery run to check out whether it was open and how the car parking situation was going.  I am very easily put off doing things here in Doha as a direct result of traffic and car parking.  On a normal evening or weekend, the shopping centre car parks can resemble a Westfield on Christmas Eve, you just don't do it!  As soon as you get in it, you find yourself thinking 'WTF was I thinking?!'  At 10am, it was looking good, not too crowded, poll position, unfortunately in the sun, which meant that I was going to be getting into a 55 degree car when I was finished but hopefully it was going to be worth it. 

I couldn't believe how civilised and organised it was.  All the Persian carpets up one end, all the food (dates etc) down the other and everything else in between. Let's get one thing straight, this place is HUGE and this Fair fully occupied the entire space.  Just a tad overwhelming as I walked through the 'free entry' (another thing I was surprised about) and I was sure I wouldn't make it through every aisle, surely the hagglers would start to peeve me off or this huge space would be just filled with crap. I was pleasantly surprised, it was like Souk Waqif in A/C but better!  Obviously the Exhibition Centre doesn't have the same cultural feel as a wonder through the alleyways of Souk Waqif, so I'm speaking from a product perspective.  There were traders from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Rawanda, South Africa, India, Pakistan, in addition to many of the Gulf States, selling everything from African artifacts, hand painted Moroccan dishes, dress jewellery, pj's, silk kaftans, fabric, South East Asian craftwork, bedspreads, fake handbags, hair straighteners and just to remind you that you are in the Middle East, Abaya's and plenty of silver and gold tea sets!

It's last day is tomorrow.  The jury is out on whether I would give it a go any time after 4pm but if that's the only time you can get there and you don't mind a fair trade, put your haggling thongs on get down there! Be prepared to haggle, otherwise take an Arabic speaking friend, like the Souks, I'm sure traders see Westerners with a sign on our forehead saying 'start with your highest price and add a bit more & see if we are stupid enough to pay it.  I don't mind a challenge and it's not very often I am pleasantly surprised here in Doha.

As for my purchases, today I went a little light on, not over doing it but I have my eye on a couple of larger pieces that I'm going to sleep on and discuss with Mr A and possibly head back tomorrow at 10am.   Miss B was rather pleased with her little presents when I picked her up from nursery!

I really need to get to Africa!  On the bucket list!