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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