{"id":163,"date":"2023-10-11T07:01:31","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T07:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/?p=163"},"modified":"2025-11-03T22:17:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T22:17:31","slug":"more-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/11\/more-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"More Momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Whirling
Whirling Dervish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After a relaxing morning it was time for a desert safari. A favorite activity in this region is to go out into the desert and off road through the terrain in 4WD vehicle of your choice. A dune bashing experience was how it was explained to us and it certainly was that. Our driver Shahid picked us up in an SUV, drove us an hour out into the desert near the border with Oman where we rendezvoused with other vehicles and headed out for a natural roller coaster experience. Taking pictures during this was hard as you may expect.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Heading
Heading out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Other
Other vehicles heading out as we wait for the rendezvous.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"This
This one got stranded quick.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The natural roller coaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The natural roller coaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shahid was very good at filling us in as to what was going on and why. Having the right tire pressure (less pressure for active dune driving), how to read the dunes as you approached them, a quick turn of the wheel as we maneuvered to throw sand … just because, and most important keeping the proper momentum in the proper direction for the current situation. Since the dunes shift day to day the drive changes as well so a different story each time he does this task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also described what we were seeing as we progressed, what the few farms we saw were growing (grass for camels, etc) and where the local water came from which was Oman. The mountains on the border create a rain shadow on the UAE side this the water is piped in and distributed via truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Our
Our driver Shahid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Kim
Kim of the desert.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Red
Red desert sunset<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Across
Across the dunes of Arabia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A wrinkled look.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the drive we had time for some picture taking at sunset then off to a dinner in a Bedouin camp. An interesting lesson here is how much this desert economy depends on tourism, there are various camps around the area that offer services that include dinner, entertainment and, in some, glamping. The BBQ we dined on was great and we were treated to a show with Whirling Dervish, fire and belly dances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Re-inflating
Re-inflating the tires after the desert romp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The dervish getting started.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Now
Now he gets really going.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"All
All fired up now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The fire dancer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Think
Think of his breath…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A
A bit of movement…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Heading out from the camp I commented that we (and a few others) were allowed to drive out to the camp, about a mile across the desert, while others had to be park near the main road and be ferried out in other SUVs. Shahid said the driving we did was strictly controlled by the UAE, both the driver and the SUV have to be licensed to drive off road in the desert and strict fines are imposed if you are caught lacking. I imagine the government and locals got tired of saving stranded folk so this is a good thing. We did see a few stuck vehicles being assisted by others which was good but this was rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Heading
Heading out.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back to Dubai to prepare to move on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a relaxing morning it was time for a desert safari. A favorite activity in this region is to go out into the desert and off road through the terrain in 4WD vehicle of your choice. A dune bashing experience was how it was explained to us and it certainly was that. Our driver Shahid … Continue reading “More Momentum”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[12,11],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dubai","category-uae","tag-dubai","tag-uae"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1041,"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/1041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bastet.tksair.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}