Pasir 'O' Pasir

 This is the story of our adventure with Desert Safari in Abu Dhabi.

Mak n Ayah is coming. And I didn't know where to take them. Well, as a residence, all I do are go to work and shopping. While waiting for their ticket at Etihad's office I read this pamplet stating all you can do in AD. One of it is Desert Safari.

Gambarnye macam menarik. So I decided to bring my parents to this adventure. Bila lagi kan..

The price showing on the pamplet was 270AED. I tried browsing the net but couldn't find anything less than that. So I just took the package with Etihad and they gave me DISCOUNT which I like very much. These are  what we're paying 230AED for.

Memula tu mcm nak marah gak. Yelah, katanya tour start kol 4p. So we had to leave home latest by 3.15pm. Pastu dia g anta driver yg tak reti cakap english. Dok asyik 'aina anta' je la.. (tu la.. dulu Wana ajar arab ko rebel. hamik!). Finally jumpa jugak la mamat tu..Setelah dinelefon nye officenye dan marah 'kenapa ko anta driver yg tak reti cakap omputih. tau dah aku ni bukan arab speaking toruist. hish..'

Perjalanan bermula. Dari KM ke Al-Ain lebih kurang dalam setengah jam disebabkan driver ni dah sedar dia dah lambat dan lantas memecutkan keretanya bagai nak rak. (Sambil sekali sekala emergency break sebab ada speed trap). Sampai kat pinggir padang pasir tu 1st pit stop ialah kat camel farm.

Amik2 gambar dgn camel. Saya sangat takut sebab takde org jaga pun. Dia cuma ikat kaki depan camel tu supaya camel tu hanya boleh berjalan tapi tak boleh berlari. Dan terlalu banyak yg amat tompok tompok taik unta.......

"Luas lagi tanah ni kalau nk wat shopping mall ni..."

After about 10 minutes or so, maka bermula la journey of the lifetime. Dune Bashing. One of the other group tu 8 orang satu kete. For this dune bashing sume kene ada seat belt sendiri termasuk children. So 2 of them kene join our car since we're only 3 people. 

Sila perhatikan bagaimana kereta lain bergerak ye. Sebab masa ni sume org dalam kerete kami dah give up.

Cerita penuh: Mamat driver ni (Akan dikenali sebagai Wahid lepas ni) drives in second. So basically he's suppose to follow the lead of the first car. But I think he is a little bit crazy and so much in love with the dune bashing activity that he went off-road and lalu kawasan yang bukitnye macam menggila. After 5 minutes or so one of the american kat belakang tu dah tak nak dah and we were trying to tell Wahid to go through a straight road. Since dia ni tak reti cakap omputih agak sukar jugak la. Akhirnya dia paham setelah diterangkan oleh rakan driver yang lain kepadanya. 

Malangnya, Wahid ni nye straight road was not so straight either. Jadilah kami bagaikan kinder egg kat dalam land rover tu... I was quite worried coz this is my idea and I thought it was not this bad. Plus takut tetiba ayah kene heart attack ke apa ke.. naya aku kat situ..

Describing the experience is quite easy I think. Imagine u r on a roller-coaster. But this time no track. The car just go as and how Wahid likes. Up and down. Around the desert. The problem is, we knew that this kind of desert is not a static hills or mountain or even land. It moves every second. Look at how the wind brings the sands away..

 

 

So even though u have an experience driver, u have to make sure that he is not a crazy driver that want to go wild like this.

Sebab the sands moves. Diulang sekali lagi. The sands moves!!! They still have (should) to be extremely careful and find the right path and go as fast as they can to avoid being stuck in the sand bila lalu kawasan yang lembut or terbalik sebab lalu kawasan yang keras. 

Tapi, in the middle, it's worth it bila dia stop kat kawasan yang scenary nye sangat sangat cantik. 

 Breathtaking view.

After 30 minutes enjoying the view, the journey continues to the final destination. Where the camels, henna, dinner, shisha, and belly dancer are waiting for us. All inclusive except alcohol.

I'm so glad I brought my parents here. It's really an adventure of a lifetime. They might not want to do this again. But if people are talking about it they knew how's the feeling.

Footnote: I took the package from Etihad Holidays. They put in the brochure 270AED per person. Alhamdulillah I got it at 230AED per person. Definitely worth the experience.