Arabian Nights

I've had Arabian Nights stuck in my head all day. Good theme song for the day though, because I finally got to go on a desert safari! :-)

We got picked up at AUS in two land cruisers. Thinking we would take these to the desert then get in some smaller jeeps, we all piled in - 8 people in each. We first stopped at this little market where some of us bought head scarves, some bought knives, some just got water. Then we were off. There was so much anticipation, because literally, we could just drive off the road anywhere and go dune bashing because we were in the middle of the Arabian Desert the entire time. At one point, we started slowing down. Unsure why, we all just looked around and thought we were just gonna cruise off the road but soon realized there were about 20 camels just a walkin' down the center of the highway! The road we were on was your typical Montana, flat, high speed limit but everyone goes way faster because you get so bored driving on it, road. And there are these camels just nonchalantly walking along. Funny thing is, is they were all single file. I'm yet to see just a bunch of camels walking not in line. Weird.

We didn't get into smaller vehicles, but after feeling the V8, I wouldn't want to. That was a pretty incredible experience. I've been 4 wheeling many times; jeeps, trucks, ATVs, slid around on ice. Nothing compares to this. It wasn't quite as intense as I was expecting, but just the feeling was totally different. You could slide like you were on ice, but have the hills like going on dirt. Not to mention the amazing scenery.

After about 20 minutes, we stopped and had a chance to get out and take pictures. And probably the engines needed to cool off a bit. Here are some pictures from when we stopped.

After some more riding, we finally arrived at this "camp site". I'm not exactly sure what to call it, but thats the term I heard them use. They had camels for us to ride, hookah, henna tattoos, abayas and candoras to try on, dancing and lots of food! We obviously started with the camels because who doesn't love camels?? We couldn't ride them long or very far. And they only had two. But it's ok, because they are still awesome!

Then we smoked some hookah, walked around, tried on some abayas and candoras and waited for dinner. They gave us some appetizers first, and since it was dark, I couldn't really tell what it was. But I was feeling courageous and just ate it. It was really good. Something fried and some type of roll. I think Anna said it was an egg roll? Whatever it was, it was good until Danny opened his mouth. I'm still not sure if he was lying or not, but he said to watch out because there is some liver mixed in and you have to make sure to squeeze out the bile first. I lost my appetite.  

Finally the belly dancers came out and so did our food. Dinner was delicious. Lots of different pastas and meats. I think there was chicken, lamb and camel? Again, I'm not sure of what I was eating, but it sure was good!

So we all piled back into the land cruisers and cruised on home. 

So you think the desert - always hot, right? Wrong. Once the sun went down it was cold. To be fair, it was a chilly day, but still. I wish I had a jacket! Might be the last time for a while I think that!

Arabian nights
Like Arabian days
More often than not
Are hotter than hot
In a lot of good ways

Arabian nights
'Neath Arabian moons
A fool off his guard
Could fall and fall hard
Out there on the dunes