The trip began when we all climbed into SUV's and drove into the middle of the desert. I knew we were in for a wild ride when I noticed the inside of the car had a roll cage built into it. The guys driving the vehicles definitely knew what they were doing. They lowered the pressure in the tires before we took off to prevent us from getting stuck in the sand. The sand was very soft and deep, so getting stuck was a definite possiblilty. Driving in sand like that felt a lot like driving in really deep snow. The drivers were also very skilled. They knew just when to hit the gas, slow down, or turn the wheel to prevent us from rolling the vehicle. They would drive parallel to the crest of a dune, and then turn the wheel to dive over the other side. As we were literally sliding down the other side of the dune, sand would pour over the entire vehicle so you couldn't see anything. It was awesome! I felt fine, but toward the end of the drive there were several people in the car who were very close to getting sick because of all the up and down and bouncing around.
The desert is a beautiful place, and the weather was great. It helped that we were more inland and away from the humidity of the gulf. The drivers stopped a couple times to let us take pictures, but I also took pictures during the drive. Here are a few of the ones I took:
One of our stops was at a camel ranch. Camels are such amusing creatures. The noises they make are hilarious, and I can't help but smile when looking at them. I kept waiting for one of them to spit at me, but they never did. These must have been the polite ones. We weren't able to ride the camels here, but...
our next stop was at a place we could. I remembered Brooke had ridden a camel in Israel, and said how much fun she thought it was. I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.
Our last stop was for dinner. We ate seated on the floor in traditional Arabic style. The food was fantastic. We had kabobs, humus, salad, pasta, potatoes, and this dessert that was amazing. It was served in a bowl, had the consistency of oatmeal, but tasted something like a cinnamon roll. The tents in the background were setup for those who wanted to smoke sheesha after the meal. Sheesha is a very mild sweet tobacco that can be flavored to taste like just about anything. You can flavor it to taste like whatever you want, it still looks nasty to me.
After dinner they brought out a belly dancer. She asked several people to come up on stage and dance with her, and my friend and I happened to be one of the "lucky" ones who were picked. My dancing skills, or lack thereof, were on display for all to see. One of my friends got a video of the spectacle, so if he gets me a copy I'll post it here later. I know at least one person who would like to see it... wink wink Brooke.
The night ended with five minutes of stargazing. They turned off all the lights, and since we were out in the middle of nowhere the stars looked especially bright. This was one of those moments where I was missing Brooke twice as much as I normally do. After the lights came up, the night was over and we headed back home. This trip was one of the coolest ones I've been on out here. It was a fun adventure.
I think Spencer did this same thing or something very similar when he was in Dubai. Looks like so much fun, and such a cool, cultural experience. Have fun out there!
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