and everywhere else! that’s what camping in the desert will give you… which was what i did last weekend! that’s one item off my list of things to do here. i just didn’t expect it to happen so soon! :)
anyway, this camping trip was organized by sf and a few of the malaysian airlines crew (not MAS crew, but airlines crew who are malaysian!) in dubai and abu dhabi. so all the people participating in this camp are malaysians, and all of them are from the aviation industry and their family. except for me, that is!
*warning, loooong post ahead!
the ooi’s came to fetch me from my office after work on thurs evening, and i spent the night at their place. we departed from dubai at 12.30pm on friday, and met up with the rest of the cars from dubai at a petrol station just outside dubai.
after driving for about 1 hour plus, we arrived at at al falah. here, we waited for the convoy from abu dhabi.
the kids didn’t waste any time to start their adventure… here, they were searching for bugs… they were so excited when they caught a beetle! real city kids… :)
after the group from abu dhabi arrived, we continued on our journey another 1/2 hour before going into the desert…
after a bit, we had to stop to deflate the car tyres to increase the friction of the tyres on the desert sand.
after deflating the tyres, we went in search for a suitable campsite. actually our camp leader did a few trial runs before this trip and had already identified the perfect site for us, which he’d marked on his gps… such a dedicated and pro camp leader, huh?
this dune was right behind our camp, or more specifically, right behind my tent, acting like some sort of wind breaker. the kids loved to climb up and slide down it… don’t ask me where they get their energy. just looking at it is enough to make me pant from shortness of breath!
while the kids went to get themselves coated in fine sand, the adults started unloading the stuff from the cars and set up camp. it’s about 5pm now and everything must be up and ready before the sun sets and cloak us in total darkness!
ta-dah, my 3-men tent! but i think can 3 person will be a tight fit. probably just 2 adults comfortably. but boy, was it hard to set up… it was very very windy at the time. right after i’ve got the structure up and was about to start pegging it to the sand (which was damn difficult coz the sand was very loose!), the wind just picked my whole tent up and blew it away like a kite! i was running like mad trying to catch my tent before it got blown away further! so memalukan, i tell u! and luckily sf was thoughtful enough to buy extra pegs for me (big and long ones too!), which helped to anchor my tent safely… *phew*
after setting up camp, most of the adults drove off again for some offroad adventure in the dunes. i didn’t follow, coz i tend to get carsick easily. so i just stayed behind with a few of the wives to watch the kids. here’s sf driving off into the sunset (ok not really, they were actually driving in the opposite direction of the setting sun), the only woman driver among the offroaders…
while waiting for the offroaders to come back, we heard some quad riders riding about near our camp. so the wife of our camp leader, ayuny, asked us to see if we could hail one down so that she could give it a go. actually i wanted to try it too, but i shy lah… :P
as well as have a bonfire going, as temperature in the desert can drop drastically at night
we had lots of food! bbq chicken, beef & mutton, prawns & squids. and some of the wives prepared fried mihun, salad and fruits for the kids, which we all had some too while waiting for the bbq stuff to cook…
at about 9pm, after we’ve done stuffing ourselves with food and couldn’t take in anymore, it’s time for teh tarik! here, ayuny is setting up the gas stove to boil water…
the temperature at midnight was about 22-23 deg C. at first, all of us were sitting in small groups scattered around the camp, but as the temperature kept dropping, all of us ended up sitting around the bonfire to keep warm. even the sand is cold under our feet (i’ve long since given up wearing my slippers) and i had to dig my feet into the sand to get to the warmer bits underneath.
i think i slept at about 1am that night, after going for a final pee in the desert! haha… everyone must be wondering about this. well, we just walk off with our torchlight to the other side of a dune, switch off our torchlight and do what we had to do. then when done, switch on our torchlight again to walk back to the campsite, making sure to avoid the wet patch. for me, this was a first. it felt really weird to be peeing right out in the open, under the stars! :P
and boy, there were stars alright! a sky full of stars! from horizon to horizon! and a captain among us taught us how to identify the northern star and learn where the north is from it. how cool is that?
the next morning, i woke at about 6.30am to the sounds of children playing. again, one can only marvel at their energy level! i did sleep a bit during the night. i only remembered waking up 2 or 3 times from being too cold! anyway, the sky has already lighten up when i finally decided to leave the warm confines of my tent. and the campsite was already bustling with activity…
breakfast was being prepared…
nasi lemak! what more can a malaysian ask for in the desert?
while we were packing up, we realized that we had a visitor… a camel herder was just reclining on the sand, observing us from some way off. so we decided to show him some m’sian hospitality by offering him a plate of nasi lemak, a can of ‘zero’ coke and a box of juice…
camel herder enjoying his ‘zero’ coke… later when he came to give us back our paper plate, coke and juice, we wanted to give him more food (our leftover food) but he declined, making a gesture with his hand on his stomach showing that he’s had enough. we asked him where are his camels, but apparently he don’t speak english
after everything’s packed up and loaded into the cars, we gathered the kids around this square of sand for some “science experiment”. this was where the bonfire was and one of the guys have covered the pit up with sand. but as the bonfire had been burning for more than 12 hours, it should be very very hot down there. so if we were to pour water on it, the water should sizzle and smoke, giving off a volcano effect!
before parting ways, we lined up the cars for a group photo. even this took a bit of time, coz first, we had to consider the direction of the sun and where we wanted to face. and secondly, it was really difficult getting the cars to go exactly where we wanted it to be! a few cars got stuck in the loose sand and had to do a few tries before we were able to line up all the cars…
leaving the desert at about 11am… yes, the desert is fenced up!
the nearest petrol station was about 30km away, so that’s how far we had to drive before we’re able to inflate the car tyres again…
all in all, this has been a super uber great experience! initially, i was of half a mind to give this a pass, coz i’ve been really tired that week due to my move to the apartment, all the cleaning, getting organized, and not to mention being a busy bee at work! luckily i didn’t, coz i’d definitely regret it!
other than a few camping newbies (me one of them!), most of the people in the group are experienced campers. they have all the camping equipments, know what to do, where to go… really the pros!
even though i don’t know anyone there, other than the ooi’s, and most of the time was just in the sidelines listening to the conversations around me, not saying nor doing much, i’ve really enjoyed this trip. so would i do it again? definitely yes! but not so soon lar… maybe in a few months time! :)
click here to watch how offroad driving looks like in the desert. or go to my fb for more photos!
anyway, this camping trip was organized by sf and a few of the malaysian airlines crew (not MAS crew, but airlines crew who are malaysian!) in dubai and abu dhabi. so all the people participating in this camp are malaysians, and all of them are from the aviation industry and their family. except for me, that is!
*warning, loooong post ahead!
after driving for about 1 hour plus, we arrived at at al falah. here, we waited for the convoy from abu dhabi.
the kids didn’t waste any time to start their adventure… here, they were searching for bugs… they were so excited when they caught a beetle! real city kids… :)
after the group from abu dhabi arrived, we continued on our journey another 1/2 hour before going into the desert…
after a bit, we had to stop to deflate the car tyres to increase the friction of the tyres on the desert sand.
after deflating the tyres, we went in search for a suitable campsite. actually our camp leader did a few trial runs before this trip and had already identified the perfect site for us, which he’d marked on his gps… such a dedicated and pro camp leader, huh?
this dune was right behind our camp, or more specifically, right behind my tent, acting like some sort of wind breaker. the kids loved to climb up and slide down it… don’t ask me where they get their energy. just looking at it is enough to make me pant from shortness of breath!
while the kids went to get themselves coated in fine sand, the adults started unloading the stuff from the cars and set up camp. it’s about 5pm now and everything must be up and ready before the sun sets and cloak us in total darkness!
ta-dah, my 3-men tent! but i think can 3 person will be a tight fit. probably just 2 adults comfortably. but boy, was it hard to set up… it was very very windy at the time. right after i’ve got the structure up and was about to start pegging it to the sand (which was damn difficult coz the sand was very loose!), the wind just picked my whole tent up and blew it away like a kite! i was running like mad trying to catch my tent before it got blown away further! so memalukan, i tell u! and luckily sf was thoughtful enough to buy extra pegs for me (big and long ones too!), which helped to anchor my tent safely… *phew*
after setting up camp, most of the adults drove off again for some offroad adventure in the dunes. i didn’t follow, coz i tend to get carsick easily. so i just stayed behind with a few of the wives to watch the kids. here’s sf driving off into the sunset (ok not really, they were actually driving in the opposite direction of the setting sun), the only woman driver among the offroaders…
while waiting for the offroaders to come back, we heard some quad riders riding about near our camp. so the wife of our camp leader, ayuny, asked us to see if we could hail one down so that she could give it a go. actually i wanted to try it too, but i shy lah… :P
as well as have a bonfire going, as temperature in the desert can drop drastically at night
we had lots of food! bbq chicken, beef & mutton, prawns & squids. and some of the wives prepared fried mihun, salad and fruits for the kids, which we all had some too while waiting for the bbq stuff to cook…
at about 9pm, after we’ve done stuffing ourselves with food and couldn’t take in anymore, it’s time for teh tarik! here, ayuny is setting up the gas stove to boil water… 
the temperature at midnight was about 22-23 deg C. at first, all of us were sitting in small groups scattered around the camp, but as the temperature kept dropping, all of us ended up sitting around the bonfire to keep warm. even the sand is cold under our feet (i’ve long since given up wearing my slippers) and i had to dig my feet into the sand to get to the warmer bits underneath.i think i slept at about 1am that night, after going for a final pee in the desert! haha… everyone must be wondering about this. well, we just walk off with our torchlight to the other side of a dune, switch off our torchlight and do what we had to do. then when done, switch on our torchlight again to walk back to the campsite, making sure to avoid the wet patch. for me, this was a first. it felt really weird to be peeing right out in the open, under the stars! :P
and boy, there were stars alright! a sky full of stars! from horizon to horizon! and a captain among us taught us how to identify the northern star and learn where the north is from it. how cool is that?
the next morning, i woke at about 6.30am to the sounds of children playing. again, one can only marvel at their energy level! i did sleep a bit during the night. i only remembered waking up 2 or 3 times from being too cold! anyway, the sky has already lighten up when i finally decided to leave the warm confines of my tent. and the campsite was already bustling with activity…
breakfast was being prepared…
nasi lemak! what more can a malaysian ask for in the desert?
while we were packing up, we realized that we had a visitor… a camel herder was just reclining on the sand, observing us from some way off. so we decided to show him some m’sian hospitality by offering him a plate of nasi lemak, a can of ‘zero’ coke and a box of juice…
camel herder enjoying his ‘zero’ coke… later when he came to give us back our paper plate, coke and juice, we wanted to give him more food (our leftover food) but he declined, making a gesture with his hand on his stomach showing that he’s had enough. we asked him where are his camels, but apparently he don’t speak english
after everything’s packed up and loaded into the cars, we gathered the kids around this square of sand for some “science experiment”. this was where the bonfire was and one of the guys have covered the pit up with sand. but as the bonfire had been burning for more than 12 hours, it should be very very hot down there. so if we were to pour water on it, the water should sizzle and smoke, giving off a volcano effect!
before parting ways, we lined up the cars for a group photo. even this took a bit of time, coz first, we had to consider the direction of the sun and where we wanted to face. and secondly, it was really difficult getting the cars to go exactly where we wanted it to be! a few cars got stuck in the loose sand and had to do a few tries before we were able to line up all the cars…
leaving the desert at about 11am… yes, the desert is fenced up!
the nearest petrol station was about 30km away, so that’s how far we had to drive before we’re able to inflate the car tyres again…other than a few camping newbies (me one of them!), most of the people in the group are experienced campers. they have all the camping equipments, know what to do, where to go… really the pros!
even though i don’t know anyone there, other than the ooi’s, and most of the time was just in the sidelines listening to the conversations around me, not saying nor doing much, i’ve really enjoyed this trip. so would i do it again? definitely yes! but not so soon lar… maybe in a few months time! :)
click here to watch how offroad driving looks like in the desert. or go to my fb for more photos!
