Dubai Desert Safari and Happy Birthday Bryan

I'm going to start my Dubai travel diaries with one of the best experiences the hubs and I have ever had on a holiday - the desert safari.

We'd heard a lot about it and I had been stressing out about how to get on one because I had done lots of research, and emailed tons of tour agencies prior to getting to Dubai, and didn't get a single response. In the end, we booked our tour when we arrived, and based on the recommendation of our friend in Dubai, decided to go for the package that was sold at the counters of the Big Bus Tours, which are located at almost every major shopping centre in Dubai.

 

The package costs 275 uae dirhams (60 euros) per person, and included hotel pick-up and drop-off, desert sand bashing on a 4x4, camel riding, followed by dinner at a desert campsite, as well as traditional and belly dancing shows at dinner.

Our driver was an Indian national, Rashid, who's lived in Dubai for 17 years, and I must say we were very very very lucky to have gotten him. He was calm, sweet, and egged-on by our screams of thrills and exhilaration, proceeded to give us a whole lot of extra treatment during the sand bashing session. We saw so many other cars cutting corners, but our guy went the extra mile (literally) to give us the ride of our life. I personally love roller coasters and thrilling joy rides, so this was super duper (x10000000) cool for me. For the queasy ones, urmmm... you might prefer a calmer driver.

And being in the desert at sunset is something else. I felt like the boy in the Alchemist. Awe-inspired. Blessed. Filled with wonderment. Bliss. Bliss. Bliss.

And as always, some tips:
1. Wear boots or sneakers or flip flops. Or like me, you'll end up barefooted because the sand just jumps into your pretty little flats. And you'll spend the next few days dealing with sandy shoes.
2. It is COLDDDD in the desert. Depends on how you look at, we were lucky/unlucky with the weather in Dubai this time. Average night temperatures in the city were around 19 degrees celcius (66° fahrenheit). Temperatures in the desert go down many, many, many more celcius at nights. Imagine that, coupled with the wind! Felt like 10°. Now imagine me in my light summer clothing. FREEZING! I looked at some very prepared Japanese tourists in their down feather jackets and really wanted to cuddle up to them.
3. Wear white. It photographs beautifully in the dessert. I wish I wore white pants too.

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Today, I also wanna wish my darling Bryan, a very happy birthday. I love you so much littlest brother! You're so handsome and adorable and wonderful and caring and loving and understanding!!!! I think of you all the time, and love the moments when I get to hug you, dance with you, drink with you, and just hang with you. Here's a quote that I loved best from the Alchemist, which I've bought for you as one of your birthday presents to get you to read and inspire you to find your bliss :)) 

 

“What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one “dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.”