The Empty Quarter

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At long last I was able to take my brand new car, the Toyota FJ Cruiser out into the desert and do some dune basing. This experience proved quite exciting, somewhat terrifying (especially when Yuki drove) but certainly addicting. I am proud to say, I did not have to get help or dig the car out once! Anyway, the key to dune bashing, or at least what I learned thus far, is to keep your momentum to get over the dunes. Also, map out routes, because when you are about to go over a dune, you literally can not see over the other side. This means that 10 feet can mean the difference of being stuck for 2 hours, or having a really good jump. Anyway, all went well and I promise Mom I will always be safe when 4 wheeling!

Yup, there's my brand new car. I think it looks awfully nice! I got a great deal on the car, 20% off since I work at my school. Which means I should be able to turn it around and sale it for not much of a loss. Anyway, it's worth the money to have my own brand new wheels, which open up much of the area! In the Empty Quarter, I was lucky again to meet some really nice locals. They opened up their fire to us and gave some great tea. They took us on rides on the dune buggies, and even allowed us to drive! Yes, that rocked! After talking for awhile, they lead us to a fantastic camping spot. Once again, I was shown that for the most part, people around here are very pleasant and will reply with kindness when it is shown.

The camping spot was very beautiful. The Empty Quarter is literally the sand ocean. It is hard to describe, but the peace of the area is very serene. While everything is still, you still get a sense that the desert is moving and fluid. At night time, I at long last got to see a beautiful night sky. Being in Dubai, while fun, does not allow you to see the stars. I think I will be making more trips out to this area. Perhaps the craziest thing though is that the Empty Quarter also extends into Saudi Arabia. Meaning that while dune bashing, we were only about 15 kilometers from Saudi. The locals said they had a wall along the desert, but I didn't feel just ready yet to drive out and see it.

On the way back, we stopped off at a car museum. This place was quite crazy. It is in the middle of nowhere, and they have some very rare cars. Not to mention the world's largest truck. Walking through the museum gave me a chance to see some very rare cars. I'm sure if Barry or Derrek could have been there it would have been an all day affair.

This trip afforded a lot of good times though. It certainly makes me look forward to other road trips in the area. One of the great things about this area is that there are some spectacular places that you can still go inside and enjoy. It does make me wish the places were protected like parks in the US, but on the other hand, to see the place and enjoy it as it actually is makes a great experience.

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Photos

Mosque on the way
There are quite a few mosques in the Middle East. This one presented a pretty good pic though of what you see from time to time around here.

local friends
hard to see at night, but here is one of the locals who was very cool!

me and the world
Look at this thing, it's huge, and it's just the beginning!

The next US commerical vehicle?
This is it folks, the world's largest truck. Unfortunalty, we could not go inside the cabin.

Me and the T'bird
Ahh, one of the many classics here.

Great paint job
This Star Wars car had some great work done!

Historical piece
A lot of the cars here were from previous wars.

Spaceship car?
I don't know how fast it goes, but it should go pretty fast if it looks that way.

Desert view
Here is some of the sights at the desert.

More desert
Sand and more sand

Comments

[Yathi]

Hiya!
Hey Nat! Good trip. How far out did u get to go?? Moreeb dune? I did take an Fj Cruiser on my latest trip and guess what? It got stuck in sand on the side of the road!! After that I didn't have much faith on it. Yours was a manual or auto? Keep trippin!

[gypsy_teacher]

FJ Cruisin
Hello, I'm not sure how far out we went in the Empty Quarter, as we mostly drove with some locals. My FJ was an automatic, as getting a manual would have been more expensive. If it helps, my current Jeep is a manual. Your FJ got stuck in the desert next to the road? Did you let air out of the tires?

[ali]

good job
nice i like your pic of the cars but i am not going to give you my email for a good reason

[gypsy_teacher]

Love of cars
Glad to hear you liked the pics. This car museum was a great place, and something like this in the US would be a big story. I enjoyed my time there and was quite surprised it's not more well known in the region. As for yourself staying in the dark, I'll trust it's more to moral rather than legal reasons.