Dubai Revisited

The last time cerita pasal Dubai trip, takde pics. One thing because I was kinda new with blog and was trying to navigating around the features and all. Ini kira trial and errorlah. Secondly since returned from Dubai, memang hectic. Balik ke dari Dubai, attended several job interviews, kena cancel work permit my mother's maid and kena bawa dia shoping before dia return to Indonesia for good.

2 weeks in Dubai was definitely a good and peaceful break. Kalau dulu masa kerja dengan former company, walaupun on holiday, still receive business calls and kena kerja. Ini kira relaxing lah until I start my new job. Of course highlights of the trip dune drivinglah. Wished could do more the adventurous stuff, tapi kalau dah travel dengan mum, kena slow down lah sikit.

DESERT SAFARI

Back to the dune driving/desert safari, Ali, the guide/driver picked us up (my sister, mum & me) at my sister's apartment at Al Karamah in a 4WD at around 3.30 p.m. Ali ni Iranian and he is also the owner of the tour agency, lucky us sebab dia cakap English memang clear unlike the others. I was kinda kept asking them to repeat whatever they said. First, we stopped at a camel farm run by the Bedouins. Of course I pernah tengok camel kat Zoo Negara tapi ini tengok dari dekat especially in their natural habitat. According to Ali, yang ada single hump untuk diternak and the ones with 2 humps are used for travelling in the desert and the price for each camel could go up to DHS5000. It was summer, so lalat memang banyaklah.

After about 15 minutes, we went to a pit stop where we will start dune driving. There, you can ride camels, horse or ride on quad bikes. I didn't miss the opportunity to try quad biking for half an hour. It cost DHS30. Just selected the small one since that was my first time. Mula-mula tu susah jugak nak handle but after a while, I got the hang of it. Just make sure you don't collide with the other riders. Some of them bawak yang besar and laju.

Dune driving started at about 5.30 p.m. Dune driving ni kira macam roller coaster ride through the dunes. So for thrill seekers who like the adrenaline rush, this is a must. I was holding on to whatever I could grabbed on to especially masa Ali drove down very steep dunes, kecut perutlah juga. I must say mum was very cool about it. Relak aje, just my sis aje yang dok menjerit macam banshee. After about 45 mins or so, we stopped for sandboarding. Eik...seramnya sebab dune tempat we stopped to tinggi jugak. Tapi once tried, seronok pulak. I did it again from a higher place. I just sat on the board tapi kalau ada yang dah biasa skiing, boleh jugak try standing.

Lepas sandboarding, Ali drove to the highest dune he could fine to watch the sunset. Took some photos and just admire the scenery. The sight was breathtaking. Then, we headed to the campsite for dinner buffet style and tengok belly dancing. There you can go for camel ride or henna drawing, (all for free), try this local dish macam kira cekodoklah tapi makan dengan honey. I have tried this before when my sis 1st time bawa balik dari Dubai last year. Buffet food banyak salad, some local dish and also western. Yalah, yang banyak datang pun Europeans. Lepas tu, startlah belly dancing performed by a dancer from Lebanon. Actually nothing to shout about. I have seen a better belly dancers. Normally those yang ada big hips and voluptous will be good belly dancers. But of course yang excited are the male tourists lah especially bila kena ajak menari atas stage. But still it was entertaining jugak. The show ended at about 8.30 p.m.