A little farther on, the Lost City clings to a jumble of desert boulders and appears in danger of being buried for eons with the next sandstorm. Merchants' Harbor offers a glimpse of a north Africa wharf area, with cries of sea gulls, a clanging ship's bell, a fog horn, a full-size freighter hull shrouded in fog, and a pile of leather steamer trunks lashed together with rope. Before long, the sky unleashes a deluge, which splatters onto a rock-strewn section of wharf. After the storm plays itself out, you get the sense of it moving on, as the sky lightens and seabirds begin to screech again. Desert Passage maintains a high degree of this ambience.
Performers are a common sight, from belly dancers and musicians to acrobats and contortionists.
Down the center of the walkway are small kiosks, but bearing little resemblance to those push carts at your suburban mall. These are designed to look like makeshift Arab market stalls, with screens and lattice and numerous shelves and drawers. Others have hats, cigars, rag dolls. Of course, Desert Passage can carry the ancient-world bazaar theme only so far. When hunger pangs begin to rumble, you don't have to despair that you'll have to eat something made with dates.