Vaes Dothrak is the only city of the Dothraki, and the meeting place for the khalasars.[1] The name Vaes Dothrak means City of Riders.
Location[]
It is located in the northeast of the vast Dothraki Sea, it lies close to the Mother of Mountains and near a lake known by the Dothraki as the Womb of the World. From where, according to Dothraki myth, the first man emerged riding the first horse.
The City has no walls. It sprawls languorously, baking in the warm sun. It is large enough to hold every Khalasar, were they all to return at once. Daenerys Targaryen thinks that Vaes Dothrak must be ten times as large as Pentos.
The city is ruled and inhabited by slaves and the dosh khaleen, the wives of all the khals who have come before. It is forbidden to wear a blade or shed a free man's blood within the confines of the city.
Notable Places[]
Horse Gate[]
The City of Vaes Dothrak has no true walls or gates. However, the Horse Gate is a name used for two gigantic bronze stallions whose hooves meet a hundred feet above the roadway to form a pointed arch.
The path beneath the Horse Gate is the godsway, where monuments and holy symbols from a hundred different religions line both sides, showing the vast range and power of the Dothraki's conquests.
Markets[]
The markets are actually more for the merchants from the west and east to trade with each other - explaining how the Dothraki "don't believe in money".
The foreign merchants gift tribute to the dosh khaleen, like salt, silver and seed. In return they are being allowed to trade in the city and promise of safe passage across the Dothraki Sea. Sometimes Dothraki visit the market to obtain something interesting (e.g. Daenerys and her handmaidens), but on the whole the entire business of trade and commerce seems alien to the Dothraki.
The Western Market[]
It is a grand bazaar used by traders from the Free Cities. who may sell wares that indirectly originated in Westeros (e.g. Westerosi wines from the Arbor).
It consists of a great square of beaten earth surrounded by mud-baked brick, animal pens and whitewashed drinking halls. Hummocks rise from the earth and beneath the square lie large storerooms. The interior of the square is made up of stalls and aisles.
The Eastern Market[]
The Eastern market contains traders from more exotic lands from the east such as Qarth, Yi Ti and the plains of the Jogos Nhai.
It has rarer items than the Western Market, such as manticores, elephants and striped white and black horses of the Jogos Nhai.
Books[]
A Game of Thrones[]
Daenerys Targaryen travels east to Vaes Dothrak with her new husband Khal Drogo. This frustrates her brother Viserys, since Vaes Dothrak is a thousand miles or more in the "wrong" direction compared to his desire to invade Westeros.