If there was one thing that Chris and I really wanted to do while in Dubai, it was to go on some kind of a tour to the desert. We ending up booking a desert safari with Hormuz Tourism (www.hormuztourism.com) for 160 dirhams per person ($49.70 CDN) which included dune bashing, sand boarding, sunset in the desert, camel riding, Arabic tea & coffee, unlimited soft drinks (no free beer unfortunately), BBQ dinner, shisha (will explain below for those of you who don’t know what this is), henna and belly dancing. And surprisingly enough, EVERYTHING that was promised to be included was included and for no extra cost – an added bonus. (Side picture – Beautiful sand hills of the desert)On the whole, the entire tour was great; Chris and I had a wonderful time and enjoyed ourselves. There were a couple of things that we think could have been better and perhaps been given more time to do and these are suggestions we plan on sending to the tour company so they are aware of this and perhaps can make the changes to provide an even better tour for their future customers.
We were driven to a desert that was approximately an hour and a half away from our hotel where we were paired with two other males from England (surprise, surprise – we must have an affinity for English folks or something) in our 4x4. This began the start of our dune bashing and oh what a bashing it was. For one hour, our driver drove up and down hills of sand at very high speeds skidding from side to side and at numerous times throughout the drive, I felt like I left my stomach behind in the desert when we’d reach the top of a hill at top speed and then just drop!! Lucky for me, I was put in the front seat which made this nauseating feeling that much greater. Our driver was great though. He maneuvered the truck very well and gave us a great ride. Doing all this in the middle of the desert where all you could see around you were mounds and mounds of sand was unreal and added to the fun!
Half way throughout the dune bashing, we stopped at somewhat of a steep hill (it was steep for me although Chris begs to differ) where the snowboards came out and we were given the chance to sand board down the hill. Chris jumped onto the board with no hesitation and although he thought the hill could have been longer, he barely made it down the hill half way before falling. It was much harder to control the board in sand and carve your way down than it is in snow. I was hesitant at first to try this as the walk down the hill to get a few pics of Chris while he came down was enough of a ride for me but in the end I figured I might as well do it. I strapped myself in and flew down the hill (faster than I thought I would be going) and came to a stop without falling!! It was a great rush. We all had a chance to go once before we were ushered back into the trucks to continue with the bashing. Chris and I were a little disappointed that we only got to do this once and that perhaps there weren’t varying types of hills we could board down and is one of the things we are going to suggest to the tour company to change in their itinerary.
After finishing our dune bashing in the 4x4, we were ushered to our “camp” further in the desert which was to be our base for the rest of the evening. Before entering the camp, we were given an opportunity to “ride” a camel. We don’t consider what we did “riding” a camel as the ride was way too short and consisted of a man leading two camels that were tied together in pretty much a circle for 3 minutes. We felt like two little kids on a pony ride at the zoo. This is the second thing we are going to suggest they change. A full ½ hour camel ride through the desert watching the sun set is what we had in mind and is what we’re sure others would enjoy as well. The camp and the rest of the evening were great. There were many stations set up around the camp, a huge stage in the middle and little tables all around where you could sit on pillows and squish your toes in the cool sand. Here we were allowed to partake in many activities. We both enjoyed a delicious all you can eat BBQ dinner, had henna paintings done, got to try on some traditional Muslim clothing, watched and were a part of a belly dance show and even got a chance to try some shisha pipes. Shisha pipes are the Middle East traditional smoking water pipe. It is a popular and relaxing pastime where you can smoke the pipes with a variety of flavoured tobacco such as strawberry or apple. Both Chris and I gave it a try to see what it was like. It wasn’t too bad and did not taste like tobacco at all. It had more of an orangey flavor to it. The neat part about it all was the shisha pipe itself which is quite the contraception (see picture below). 
No comments:
Post a Comment