Remember how I said sand dunes + camels = my image of this desert country? Well, I'd been itching to go see some sand dunes; to be more exact, ride an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) in the desert. This famous spot, among expats who have nothing better to do at least, is about an hour's drive from downtown. Well then again, plenty of locals do it too. After months and months of bugging hubby, who came up with reasons like we don't have the right car, he doesn't know how to get there, we finally made the trip there. Seems he's up for lots of adventures these days. Me like! This time I didn't let him give anymore excuses, because I even contacted members of an expat blog for coordinates or at least directions there. Coordinates we didn't get, but judging by the accuracy of our not very updated GPS, I think the well explained directions were more than sufficient.
I was more than surprised that his bunch of close friends were up for it. Note that they haven't previously "signed up" for any desert adventures for fear of it not being safe (for their ladies or otherwise) so us plus 2 more couples was more than I bargained for. It was a pity the nurses couldn't make it, what with S & S being in S'pore and Y being sick.
I was all prepared, buying sunblock just before leaving (they only have SPF 50 here..pathetic...must remember to stock up when I'm back in Sg). But the moment we arrived there, all was forgotten, so now I've got a tan that adds to the tan I got a couple of weeks before. At least now my family can't go "so much for living in a desert/sunny country" lol (they previously said that instead of getting tanned I've gotten fairer after staying here. no wonder women here have vit D deficiency heh).
Off we went, me and Mr F sharing one ATV initially. He had a little trouble with confidence...he kept putting his foot down ala riding a motorbike whenever he felt the ATV wasn't stable, so we didn't progress much. I initially thought I was too heavy so I got down so that hubby could ride by himself. The other reason I got down was cos I almost fell off once when we were going uphill and he braked abruptly. :P Even then, he was still a little scared so I grabbed the bike from him and zoomed off without him..lol. Well, as a sideline, we got a new camera (shall post about that too!) so he kept himself busy playing around with it.
It was a totally exhilerating experience. I was initially hesitant about going too far, more so so that Mr F wouldn't be worried. But after I saw that he wasn't stopping me (maybe he was too engrossed with the camera), I headed off as far as I dared, but always looking back to see that I knew which direction I was heading from. As I got more and more confident, I went faster and faster, thinking "woo hoo, I'm driving in this country!!". Cheap thrill lah, but what to do..haha. That little emancipation was enough for me. N was daring enough, or should I say she trusted me enough, to pillion ride with me a couple of times. Till we got into a minor misadventure, after which I told her she'd be safer with her hubby. I didn't want to bear any responsibility...Baby A needs his mummy safe and sound! (I should also add that M was so daring, he even brought Baby A on a couple of rounds...if he becomes an ATV expert when he grows up, we know why!)
While Mr F stuck to the safer gravel ground, M&N and I conquered dune after dune, especially during our final "countdown". I was braking too much at first, but after M&N's motivation, I became more adventurous and literally zoomed over the dunes. It was like a roller coaster ride, up and down, down and up, sometimes the back wheel even lifting off the ground. Weee!
After that exciting experience, we had some desert that S made. Too bad she couldn't ride cos she was preggie...maybe next year heh. Since we have a new tripod, we took the opportunity to take some couple/group shots. Baby A had a mini photoshoot too, just too bad he wasn't smiling much, till he was lifted into the air.
It was a great day and I'm sure returning for more adventures, if not just to shoot more pics of the red sand dunes. Yay!
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