A Drive through the Heart of the Desserts

Dubai, the city of –skyscrapers, vivid cultures, shopping malls, clubs, pubs, wonderful nightlife, beautiful sandy beaches, relaxing walks, historical locations, exclusive souks and many more- had never fascinated me as a destination.  Therefore, I started my journey from Riyadh to Dubai, only as a way to pass out the sleepy Hajj holidays. I had never imagined the wonders that the place would hold for me.

The early winter morning breeze of Riyadh was getting cooler as we started our journey. The familiar roads of Riyadh and Al-Kharj started to pass out from our map within two hours of our journey. The road from Al Kharj to Batha border is a two liner one and mostly covered with long trucks. However, it was really a good drive as the truck drivers moved us ahead with signal lights and hand signals in the narrow road. Though there were many trucks, they never lowered our speed. The annoyance for trucks, inflicted in mind by the Bangalore truck drivers, ameliorated considerably during this journey.

The landscape was changing as each kilometer passed. Soon we were getting the signal posts of ‘Sand Dunes’ and ‘Camel Crossing.’ The desert on each side looked like untouched layers of butter. As I looked closely, I could spot large pits also among these sands. We were not tormented much by the scorching sun of the desert, since we were mesmerized by these beautiful scenes witnessing for the first time.

A wave of golden sand danced in the road before us. The mirage of a vibrating and silvery lake started to stretch before us at a constant distance. As the car sped up through these desert roads, I remembered Marina Nemat’s description of deserts in Prisoner Of Tehran

A view of desert

“I realized how the quiet the desert was without the constant hum of the car. B y the sea, even on a calmer day, one could always hear the murmur of the water, and in a forest, even if all the animals had chosen not to make the sound, one could hear the leaves brushing against each other.”(p.263)

Ever since I read this description, I had a longing to feel this silence in a desert. I can’t feel the silence, now since we are on a busy road.  It is then that Sreejith told me about the empty sockets. These are tricky places in the desserts, where even the natives can get lost. However, in the present day of technology, people explore the places with compass and direction maps. He also told about his colleague who had camped in the dessert last year and had a fabulous experience.

I was just expressing my desire to camp like that. As if to prompt me for that, two-three GMCs passed us with full of camping tents, water cans and other camping equipments on its top. (They must have passed earlier also. But I noticed them only then.) Sreejith got tensed a little.

         “We are going to make it late. I can see that there is a long queue at the border.”

Yes, we were reaching the border of K.S.A (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and U.A.E (United Arab Emirates). Shreya who was fast asleep with motion sickness woke up as the car sped down. 

The border between K.S.A and U.A.E is called Batha. This is where we take the ‘visa on arrival.’ Most of the Saudis like us stop at the petrol station before the border to fill the fuel.  After a few kilometres, the price of petrol will be thrice than that in the holy land of Muslims. 

When men in our gang waited with the cars in the long queue, we paid a visit to the restrooms. East or West, North or south, public toilets in Asian countries seem to be a nightmare as always!

It is after getting out of the Petrol station that we hit on to the first stone in our travel. The traffic block! It was a time just after the Salah and we are caught in the tiring queue to reach the border. The car started to take a slow pace here. As we entered the visa office, I actually felt like going back. It seemed that the whole Saudi is planning to visit U.A.E during these Hajj holidays.

The visa processing took almost an hour to complete. Though there were not any accurate instructions, we somehow managed to get into the queue after filling the applications and retina scanning! As we waited patiently for the sleepy officers to check our documents, I couldn’t help thinking-We, who rush and complain for even small procedures in India, can actually be patient and accommodating under circumstances

Sand Dunes signal before Batha

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We were at such a relief while getting the visa after a long process of five hours. The sunset in the desert that I had wished to watch was over! It was getting dark and the scenes were fading. By 6p.m darkness enveloped the desert and started to make the journey monotonous.

By that time, hunger started to nag our stomachs. We stopped at a truck station on the way and gulped our lunch and dinner. All were having the same thought in mind-to reach Dubai as early as possible! Moreover, from now onwards we have to rely entirely on the GPS.

Now, it was time to drive according to the directions of the GPS. We reached Abu Dhabi and soon realized that we are heading to the heart of the city than to Dubai. The GPS was constantly giving us instructions to take ‘Roundabouts’ and soon we started to drive according to sign posts and our instincts. Though this was confusing, we could also find time to enjoy a glimpse of the city decked up for the upcoming F1.

After passing a magnificent building at Abu Dhabi that looked like a palace, we finally got into the straight road to Dubai. Now, all of us were so relieved. After a drive of one hour, we started to reach the outskirts of exuberant Dubai. The first view was so rejuvenating. All of a sudden I felt that I am back at Bangalore. The truth is that a glimpse of Dubai is as much of Bangalore. I’d seen just the tip of an iceberg.

We corrected our watches ahead for an hour. Here we separated from our travel partners. Even in the late hours of night, our hosts were waiting for us. After a hot shower and hearty chat, we hit the bed.

Continues in The City of Skyscrapers