Dune bashing in Wahiba Sands!
Trip Start
Jul 28, 2009
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70
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Trip End
Aug 10, 2010
Where I stayed
Al Raha Tourist Camp
Bidiyyah, Ash Sharqīyah, Oman
Saturday, February 6, 2010
We were met by a Bedouin guide at a gas station and we followed him to the start of the dunes, where we left our rental car and got into his 4WD vehicle. We headed out to the desert where we saw many camels and typical goat skin black tents. The sand dunes were so different from the sand dunes in India. The sand dunes was orange in color, where the sand dunes in India were more beige.
We got to the camp, where there was a couple from Scotland and a family from India and we sat and talked while drinking tea and qawha (strong Omani coffee laced with cardamon, very good coffee!). The family from India had two sons that were in their 20's and they wanted to ride the quads, so Nik went with them. We watched them ride around the sand dunes and having too much fun.
Before sunset, we headed out for some dune bashing (off roading). Just as we were heading up a steep dune, our driver receives a phone call. He casually answered it and talked while he maneuvered the SUV with one hand up the steep dune. Have to admit that it was a bit scary as you feel like the SUV is about to flip over.
Its amazing to look out over the desert as there is no one, nothing in front of us, just an endless ocean of sand. As we watched the sunset, the desert became a beautiful spectacle of color, and the landscape shifts from gold to orange to countless hues of pink.
NIKOLAS VERSION
We went on a desert trip into the sand dunes. I couldn't wait to get there because I heard that I could sand board.
When we got there, I went on the quad bikes for an hour with two other guys. We had a blast. I started out slow but at the end I felt like a pro.
In the afternoon, we went sand bashing with the SUV, it was scary but awesome at the same time. I thought it was too short of a ride.
After dinner, we had made a fire and I burned my finger and it hurt like crazy. All night it hurt. The next day, my finger was much better as the blister popped.
After breakfast, we went sand boarding, which is alot like snow boarding. I showed the guys how to do it. But its more tiring than snowboarding because there is no lift and you have to walk up the sand dunes.....whewwwww.....
