it smells different 

Sunday, May 08, 2005

UAE - Nashash- Desert Camping

Hello!! This batch of pictures is from a desert camping trip to Nashash in december. I went with a gaggle of family members in three fully loaded 4x4s. We drove for about four or more hours south east of Abu Dhabi.. I think it's near the border with Saudi Arabia.. Prepare yourself for lots of pictures of SAND!

Long drives in Canada involve a lot of starring at greenery.. trees.. hills.. fields.. the occasional tim hortons.. sometimes it gets tiresome. In the middle east, it's usually desert and more desert.. but strangely I rarely grew tired of it. Anyways.. enough rambling.. here are some pics..

These days many camel herders use SUVs or small pick ups to move the camels around..

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Here's the bungalow that we stayed in.. Yes I know it's not the same as camping in Canada.. with the tents.. mosquitos.. stinky outhouses.. racoons and bears.. This sort of camping involved nice spacious bedrooms.. big shower stalls.. a big kitchen.. living area.. satellite tv.. too much..

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Shortly after nightfall my sister and I decided to venture out and do some star gazing.. It was beautiful.. I'd never seen so many in my life!! I could even see clusters.. or what I thought might have been galaxies.. not sure. I tried taking pictures but my camera couldn't capture it.. sorry!

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I bumped into these wild arabian women.. I escaped before they picked up my scent..(don't feed them)

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I stayed up the whole night with hiba (beating her in burnout3 as well) telling her stories so she'd stay awake, and keep me awake so I could see the sunrise over the dunes. Unfortunately, I fell asleep just as the sun was rising.. buuuuut I did wake up a few minutes later.. so I rushed outside..

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Yeah.. I know I took too many sunrise pictures.. I couldn't help myself..

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I like all the different textures and designs of the desert.

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There was a small settlement nearby.. I think they were growing something..

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When you are at the top of one of these big dunes make sure you have something to cover your eyes.. A gust of wind can easily send sand flying into your face..

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I've been spotted by my Uncle!!

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Can you guess what she's writing??

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I waited.. knocked politely.. whistled.. everything.. I never found out what lives in there.. :(

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I was searching for oil..

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Here's the family artist..

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The drama-queen..

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This is supposed to be a python that swallowed a baby.. :)

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On the drive home we stopped at a place owned by a guy called the Rainbow Sheikh..

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This globe thing is basically a very large RV.. he's sometimes travels with it around the country.. can you guess what tows this behemoth?!

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Yes.. this truck works!! He has a collection of gimungous vehicles..

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Impressive.. but they should at least get the spelling right..

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There was also a guy giving camel rides.. it seemed like the touristy thing to do..

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I liked this bird house..

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5 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hellooo my daaarling cuzzel... beautiful work....i would just like to make one correction... I WAS BEATING YOU AT BURNOUT...lol...anyways i was officially the highest for a while with my 44 takedowns....but fahd recently got 51....goodluck beating that one!

May 9, 2005 at 4:52:00 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Salim,

Those were some beautiful pics. I can see why you didn't get tired looking at the sand. Its mesmerizing! By the way, I wouldn't call this 'camping'. Camping is sleeping tents, going to outhouses, having your sister throw up on your hair in the middle of the night..(and there was no shower in sight!) Now THAT is camping! Not a luxurious bungalow!

Love
Sonu

May 9, 2005 at 9:19:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Sylo said...

Hey Cuzzle! Hah.. 51!! What was he driving?! hehe.. did Ali take u to Hem's the first night?

Sonu, I hear ya!! When we went camping with Sameer we had to ward off the racoons at night.. We decided to pee along the perimeter of the site, hoping that would keep em back.. but it didnt! :)

May 9, 2005 at 4:44:00 PM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi bud !! i see u have taken us off from the city limits to the arabian desert!! Hey are those camels in pajamas? Ohh sal! u said that u went there with 3 4WD, was one of it a RAV4? how did u guys fit in? Yoo no comments on the arabian women amaizingly how did u get that shot!!??? And woow wat was that THINGY stuck on SAND, my curiousity is WAT IS THAT POPPING OUT on right? Man gimi more info ON THAT Dodge!! i think the owner of that truck is that Giant from Jack&the bean stock....!!

Lovely pics "SAND MAN"

KangaROOS

May 10, 2005 at 10:28:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Sylo said...

Hey Kanga bratha,

Hehe I'm not sure if those are pyjamas on the camels.. they do look comfortable though. Yes, there was one Rav4 and two Land Cruisers.. We all managed to fit.. somehow! heheh I'm not sure which poppin thing ure referrin to.. Annnd.. I dont know much about the dodge.. I just know the guy locked it.. I tried getting in!! The place smelled of engine oil..

May 10, 2005 at 4:45:00 PM EDT  

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