Recently, after
a Friday worship service, Edna & I joined two Brits to tackle the Doha
desert. We have known Kevin Armstrong
for a year and have had great times of food and fellowship with him. He is a frequent traveler to the desert,
where he enjoys serenity, peace, and nature.
Frequently, he camps out in the desert.
He has been suggesting that Edna & I join him for a trip to the
desert for quite some time. Finally,
everything worked out a few weeks ago.
Kevin is a free-lance photographer.
He introduced to us a fourth companion on the trip, a fellow Brit living
& working in Doha, Brian Candy, who along with several other talents, is
also a photographer whose works have been published in several national and
world releases. He is a wonderful man, who also publishes a blog. We are using his photos for the most part,
and many of his ideas, because his photography is great. He not only took great pictures, he would
explain to Edna and me why he was taking different pictures and what his angle
was attempting to bring out.
Our day began
in worship. We then met in the
fellowship room for some lunch. As we
walked to Kevin’s vehicle, we were surprised to be greeted by an unseasonable
rain that would last for a few hours as we journeyed southward. I am grateful for Brian’s map, which allowed
us to appreciate our journey to the inland sea.
Kevin drove in his all-terrain SUV.
This was Brian’s first journey into the desert in the six years that he
has lived in Doha. We had been there
three times on our first visit in 2004, but had not been there since we
returned.
Our trip began
in the heavy rain, followed by a strong wind, a sandstorm and lightening and
loud thunder. Driving became
treacherous, but Kevin was a master at navigating in the dark, sandy
conditions. It was as if nature wanted us to know that the desert was no place
for sissies. We were up for the
challenge.
We drove to
Mesaieed & pulled into a Woqod petrol station where Kevin not only
refueled, but also let air out of his tires so that we could better travel in
the sand of the desert. We used this
time to pick up some snacks, but also to change from our church clothes, to
something more appropriate for the desert.
After grabbing the items that we needed, we proceeded down to Sealine,
where the road ends and the desert begins.
We were fortunate that the rains stopped as well and the rest of our
trip was dry.
We began our
trip in the salt flats. Even though it is a desert, we were far from being
deserted. Many others used the nice
weekend day to travel to the desert, which is a usual sight. Kevin took a ton of pictures, many of them
action shots, and several as vehicles passed us. The pictures that are most noteworthy are
those of the sand dunes.
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An interesting
sight is to see the experienced drivers approach the dunes from angles. He appreciated the sun glistening down on the
sand and tried to capture those moments.
As we drove
further south towards the Inland Sea, we came across one of the most
fascinating sights, a ‘Dune Bashing’ casualty. Drivers of 4X4’s love to climb the
sand dunes and then make their descent.
The desert is filled with vehicles racing away on weekends. But
sometimes they overestimate their driving abilities and they pay the price with
their cars, and a few with their lives.
We came across two guys shortly after getting their collision with the sand. Kevin explained that this particular dune is actually named ‘The Stopper’. Weather can change the base of the dune into a shape that will stop drivers in their tracks if they come down too fast. These guys learned this lesson the hard way.
We came upon
them immediately after their crash landing.
Kevin asked them if they needed help and they acknowledged that they did
not, that they had made a phone call for help.
He later got to wondering if they were dazed or in shock. As you can see from the picture, the vehicle
went airborne as it came over the top, based on the absence of tire marks in
the sand. I’m guessing that for a few
moments, they wondered if they hadn’t bitten off more than they could
chew. They would soon find out that they
had. From the sand marks on the hill
side it becomes evident that they landed in the middle of the dune, only to
come down hard on the front tires, blowing them both in a single band, which
likely sent them airborne more. Now they
are lucky that they didn’t flip, because even their front grill and bumper took
quite a bit of force and sent them flying.
When they finally came to a stop, they likely learned that they had no
front tires to drive forward. Talk about letting air out of the tires. From the heavy ruts in front of them it
stands to reason that they then put their vehicle in reverse and attempted to
back out of their predicament. However,
all they accomplished was the deep ruts of driving in reverse on their
rims. They basically were going
nowhere. We learned from Kevin that
frequently these types of SUV’s will allow the driver to disconnect the anti-lock
brakes, which both saves them, but also causes the accident to begin with.
They were
fortunate to be alive. In 1998, four
American women were killed on the same sand dune, because they had been told
that to drive in the sand they needed to give the car extra gas, which is true
going up. However, if you go too fast
coming down, this and worse are the results.
One needs to almost creep down to make it down in one piece. We witnessed parts of cars strewn throughout
the sand from prior wrecks. As the old
commercial used to say, “You don’t mess with Mother Nature,” and you don’t
skirt the laws of creation.
Several drivers
passed us throughout the day. Kevin has
driven this area so often that he has the map of the place sketched in his
memory. Good for us. Had we left it up to me, we’d still be there,
but our weight would be down.
We stopped near
the inlet to witness the view of the inland sea that separates Qatar from Saudi
Arabia. It’s a beautiful sight, made
even more beautiful by the beautiful sun coming down.
We stopped at
the salt flats near the Inland Sea. Again, because Brian was the photographer,
he is in none of the pictures.
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| We saw the equivalent of modern day caravans. |
The view was stunning. People set up places to camp, cook and swim. Except for the sound of cars from time to time, the setting was most peaceful. Our view was from the top of a dune.
Finally, we set up a place where we could sit out, heat up food and drinks, and watch the desert sun go down in all of its majesty.
As day turned
into evening, we found ourselves telling stories and corny jokes. Since I’m the only one of the men to come
from cornfields, I’ll let our friends guess whose stories and jokes were most
corny!
As the evening
set in, peace prevailed. Edna didn’t
find our “guy talk” as exciting as reading her email and searching
websites. It was amazing that even in
the heart of the Qatari desert, she could still find reception. Our friendship grew within the majesty of
God’s great creation, as we took it all in.
We owe a
special thanks to Kevin, whose suggestion and expertise made our trip
possible. Also, to Brian, who not only
became a new friend, but also a wonderful photographer. Who knew that the Middle East desert would
seal a friendship between two Brits and two Americans?
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