Easter Weekend: Rub' al Khali

What a great shot!  I'm sure this was staged, but it truly represents the crossroads of the old with the new at Tilal Liwa, where we stayed for Easter.  (Not my own photo)

Without quite realizing this was Easter weekend, we had reserved a couple of rooms in the Rub' al Khali Desert.  When we booked the room, we received the "Easter Package."  Then it hit us:  EASTER!!

I was supposed to have parent conferences on Sunday, but Ashley, one of the teachers I work with, had asked our principal if we could have Sunday off for Easter.  Our principal agreed, saying that was her Easter gift to us.  WOW!  I was so excited!!

After school, Ashley gave us a ride toward Abu Dhabi to meet Heather and Cory.  We had plans to meet at the Falcon Hospital, where they were boarding Blue for the weekend.  As always in the UAE, there were no specific directions how to get there, so we eventually ended up pulling off the side of the highway and just transferring suitcases by the side of the road!

Then, it was off to the REAL desert!!  Rub' al Khali is called the "Empty Quarter."  It is the biggest sand desert on earth (250,000 square miles), where the Bedouin still live, and the dunes there are truly amazing.  It is located on the Western border between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.   Side note:  When I was younger and enthralled with the Black Stallion books, I remember reading about this place and thinking I'd never see it in my lifetime!!!  

We were only a short distance from the "Undefined Border" between the UAE and Saudi Arabia when we visited Tal Mireb ("Scary Mountain").  Tal Mireb, or Moreeb Dune, is one of the highest sand dunes in the world, around 120 meters (almost 400 feet) high.  The slope is EXTREMELY steep, and it is used for hill climb races.  Each year they host the "Reach the Top" drag race to see which motorbike, 4 x 4, and SUV can reach the top in the shortest time.  Many engines get blown out here!  Moreeb Dune has a 50 degree slipface and 300 meter long hill climb (at least that's what all the brochures say), so apparently it's one BIG event!

This is a view looking down from a distance away.  (I did not take this photo.)  You can see the cars located at the bottom of the dune.  The raceway is marked off with fencing. We used the fencing to help pull us along as we climbed the dune.  The day we went, there was obviously NOT a car race!!  Heather made it to the top of the fencing....She's the winner!!!

Here you can see the fenced off area of the dune.

We stayed at the Tilal Liwa hotel.  When we weren't riding to see a camel farm or to see the dunes, we simply sat by the pool or walked in the desert surrounding our hotel. 

On the road to Tilal Liwa Hotel:  First camel crossing sign I've seen where there were actually camels crossing the road at that location!  These are some well-trained camels!  LOL

Kim at the Tilal Liwa Hotel

Cory was impressed with the prawns....

Heather was impressed with the desserts....

I was impressed with the desert view through the pool arch....

Kim was impressed with the air-conditioned glass trailer at the camel farm....

We were ALL impressed at the size of Tal Mireb!!!

This is looking down from partway up.  You can only be impressed by realizing those are people and cars at the bottom.  Otherwise, it's hard to tell just how far away the top is!  That's Kim on the right near the fence partway down, and Cory is at the bottom--that tiny speck.

Here are some camels at the bottom of another dune.  Again, you have to have some perspective to appreciate the size of these dunes.  We were riding in the car, and as we rounded each curve, we just gasped.  Some of the sides of the dunes were sheer-- straight drops.  You just kept waiting for them to start the sand slide to cover whatever was at the bottom.

Cory thinks he can walk on water.

Two against one in the pool....

Nice view :)

Looking back at our hotel from a morning desert walk

Finding desert tracks near the hotel that a snake had passed this way...
along with some other unidentified creature...

Kim's photography skills:  I love the colors and shadows here!

Solitude...

This was on an early morning walk when Kim and I headed out before breakfast. The sand was cool to the touch and the silence was mesmerizing.

I'll try to post more tomorrow because the blog is not cooperating with my picture posts right now....