A belly dancer in colrful costi=ome performs for a crowdATourist attractions

Desert Safari Tour in Dubai — an Off-Road Experience

A photo tour of an unforgettable Dubai tourist excursion by Orient Tours

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If you think of Dubai as an ultramodern city of tall buildings, shopping malls and ostentatious wealth you are not wrong.

The Burj al-Arab — author’s photo

The Burj Khalifa — author’s photo

But an excursion with Orient Tours — the evening desert safari tour — will quickly put Dubai in perspective as a small irrational oasis is a vast sea of sand dunes. The Orient tour picks up from major city hotels and within half an hour you are transferred to a fleet of Hummers and other sturdy 4x4s.

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Suddenly there is no city, little sense of habitation at all — just mountainous sand dunes and your driver is gunning the motor to climb the first of them, following the guy ahead. How they know where they are or where they’re going is anybody’s guess.

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The climb is done at speed. As you approach the crest, you wonder if there is a stalled car just the other side and whether this is curtains.

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Then the sleek caravan travels along the top of a dune, dust boiling behind, and, alarmingly, as you bore forward, the driver allows the vehicle to slide down the dune at the same time. You feel like a surfer cutting down the face of a wave, and you are glad there is a handgrip above the door to cling to. Then it is up and down a few more crests.

Just when you are wishing you had brought a spare pair of underpants, the party draws up together on a flat area, you are handed a bottle of water and are allowed to wander in an infinite expanse of nothing.

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Turn 360 degrees and no city, no village is visible anywhere to the horizon. Just sand. The sunset is amazing.

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The author — the author’s own photo

You are then bundled back into the vehicles and taken to a camel farm, where — surprise, surprise - there are lots of camels.

Author’s photo

Author’s photo

You are also introduced to falconry, an ancient Bedouin tradition. And now a luxury sport in the UAE. Apart from being the national bird of the country, the falcon is prized and a champion bird can cost between 20,000 and 1,000,000 dirhams.

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The night concludes with a BBQ and extensive buffet dinner at what is styled a Bedouin encampment but is clearly a tourist venue.

Author’s photo

Author’s photo

Here, as the food as being prepared, you can have camel rides. The author did not participate: I was too busy taking photos.

Author’s photo

Author;s photo

They look cute and lovable, but the chief reason for the pretty muzzle is to stop them taking a bite out of a passing toureist.

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Henna painting,

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Or try sand boarding.

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As you dine, various forms of entertainment are offered including a belly dancer.

Author’s photo

Author’s photo

Author’s photo

The evening concludes with spotlights suddenly being turned on the top of a nearby dune to see a camel train… albeit carrying an excellent ad for the Orient tour company. I have nothing but praise for what was a well-organised, unique tour with plenty of variety.

The author, Australian wrtiter and novel-writig mentor Jim Parsons, has no affiliation wirth the orient Tour Company and received no remuneration for this article, as he was delighted with the value for money experience.