Rub Al Khali Overnighter on 20th/21st feb.’2009.
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An exclellent trip… enjoyed by all.
Ajay Bhai burnt the night oil to meticulously plan and chart an excellent route map. We all know how methodical and organised Ajay Bhai can be when he’s in his elements. This trip was no different – everything was planned right down to the minutest detail and all participants were shown a colour printout of the road map and even handed a printed fact sheet about the trip… complete with contact details of all participants, possible escape routes, a detailed action plan and even GPS co-ordinates of each pole point!! Impressive!
The trip was fast paced… and we were soon on a roller coaster ride over the undulating dunes of the Empty Quarter. The drive though Liwa’s soft sands was excellent and we finally reached our campsite located just 10 kilometres from the Saudi border.
We had almost completed setting up our campsite when we were greeted by some officials of the border security force who asked us to move further inside the border as we were too close to the border fencing. As a result, we had no option but to pack-up and move further away from the border area. So it was pack up and go!
So there we were… a bunch of desert dudes driving around in the dark, looking for a good camp site. After some exploration, we finaly set our campsite beside some high dunes and quickly pitched our tents and lit a bonfire. Once the tents were pitched, the BBQ expert, Anill Berry, took over proceedings and treated us to some well grilled steaks and chicken tikkas… cooked to perfection!
Nangla Sahab, on the other hand, was busy cooking chicken qorma on his stove… he had come prepared with all masalas and utensils. The chicken qorma was undoubtedly a gourmet treat… enjoyed by all.
The next morning, after a lesurely breakfast of tea, coffee, sausages, chicken qorma and some chilled apple juice, we embarked on the next leg of our trip…
After cutting across some high dunes enroute, we finally exited around 3 pm and stopped near a farm for lunch… Ajay Bhai was kind enough to have brought some home cooked vegetarian meals along with some Delhi-style kaali daal…
Lunch over, we inflated and hit the highway back home… reminiscing the high points of a well orgainsed and well conducted trip.
Special thanks go out to:
Mr. Ahmed Pervez: For keeping us all safe and organising such an enjoyable trip.
Mr. Ajay Sikri: For taking the time to plan such a wonderful trip and leading the convoy with such intutive foresight.
Mr. Anil Nangla: For bringing in the bonfire wood and cooking us that yummy chicken qorma. Not to forget the excellent snapshots. Surely, Nangla Sahab kept us all in high spirits (!) with his wit and humour!
Mr. Anil Berry: For treating us to some excellent BBQ delicacies.
Mr. Faateh and Mr. Hamza: For lending us those powerful hands and limbs to pack and unpack.
Master Rifaat: For all the playful antics that kept us smiling throughout the trip.
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Have posted some pictures of the trip in the Gallery. Check it out!
“An excellent trip, loved by all” is the best one sentence to describe the trip. All the trip details have been already outlined by Naved uncle, so i would not get into too much of depth of that. I would like to thank everyone who showed up. We were 4 cars, all strong drivers and it was a perfect convoy for an expedition trip. We were in “no man’s land”. We saw camels and people when we started the trip and then we didnt see anyone till the end of the trip, except the border police who met us. They were also surprised how we got there :p I would like to thank Ajay uncle for an awesome leadership and finding those ways between the huge Liwa dunes. I was in the lead car with Ajay uncle and there were times we would find ourselves going through narrow turning valleys where we couldnt see whats after the turn. I would describe the feeling as breathtaking. Also i would like to thank Naved uncle without whom we would be in lot of trouble and without whose winch, we would have worked very hard. Mr Anil Nangla for amazing chicken and Mr Anil Berry for also amazing chicken and steaks. My dad and Faateh sweeped and made sure there was noone left behind. And Rifaat who couldnt find oil in the place where he was digging non stop. LOL. Amazing trip to sum it all. Thanks everyone.
I have been off Roading in the desert for twelve years now…by now it had come to almost a feeling of Deja ‘vu….
Done it all seen it all type of a feeling…
BUT THIS WAS THE TRIP….
Total we drove for slighty more than a Thousand KM’s…
We covered close to 200Kms off Road in two days and I thoroughly enjoyed every single moment…Except perhaps when the Border Guards told us that we were in no man’s land & gave us a few anxious moments, while they awaited next instructions from their HO…
Even that was a blessing in disgiuse…WE DID NIGHT DRIVING IN LIWA!!!
Thanks to Ajay…OUR LEAD MARSHAL…for such an excellent initiative… :thanks:
Anil Nangla…For being such good company…& the Murgh Achari… 😉
Naved for being such a sport…& for the rescue support provided… :ymsmug:
Anil Berry for lending help with everything… B-)It was a dream trip…I just feel sorry for others, who missed such an oppurtunity…I mean HOW could you??? :-\ :-\ :-\
This was not a run-of-the-mill dune-bashing day out. It was a serious expedition and required commitment from every one in addition to a fine rhythm of men with their machines.
Mere planning and conduct is not enough for success of such a trip. It requires a positive contribution from every one to make it a memorable event. Luckily we had all the necessary ingredients – challenge, dedication, a desire to have fun, wit and humour, 😉 excellent food and drinks and :-?more so, a sense of discipline in every member of the group. How else can you explain covering 200 km off-road in a challenging terrain and the unknown part of Rub’ al khali; and that too in less than 10 hours of actual driving time – 5 and half hours on day one and 4 hours on day two. The area is so isolated that we neither saw any tyre marks or signs of any recent visitors nor any signs of human life other than the 3 border jonnies who uprooted us from our first camp. Yes, we did saw a lot of lizards, birds, a fox and various other elements of animal life. At one spot, we came across a big flock of birds on the ground, probably migratory birds who were in transit. I have never seen so many of them at one spot on ground in this part of the world. A strange aspect of the desert in that area was that no camels were seen. We saw a convoy of camels at the deflation point and thereafter only 3-4 camels were seen all thru the route.
To sum up, it was a fantastic trip, the extent of which possibly none of us had imagined. For me personally, it was a new milestone in the sense that while I have planned and led numerous trips, this probably had the longest and toughest offroad segment. I enjoyed every moment of it. Thanks a lot for all who joined in and made it a success. :thanks:
A lot has been written about this “excellent and unforgettable trip”. Thanks for the inspirational reports of the trip.
This definitely gives a lot of motivation for the future Liwa drives. I really wish we could join but it was just not the right time. Glad to know that all of you enjoyed every bit of it!!! 🙂
Wow !! The posts on this thread makes me feel I missed out big time. Next time..lets see. I’ll try and make it for one Liwa trip. 😐
quote Roshan:Wow !! The posts on this thread makes me feel I missed out big time. Next time..lets see. I’ll try and make it for one Liwa trip. 😐i would love to c you der.. u mama mia…. 😉
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