Into the desert

I was tired from the long flight and the early start, but my time was short.  I only had a few days in the UAE and I wanted to see as much of it as possible.

After a lovely wander around the beautiful Shaikh Zayed mosque, Pinar left Nader and myself to go do some chores.  Nader had planned more fun for the both of us without telling me.  I'm generally a fan of surprises (the good ones anyway) so I was happy to go along.

He wanted to give me a true Arabian experience.  This involved first getting decked out in the appropriate clothing.

Once we had all of that sorted, it was off to the desert.

I have often written about my love for the desert and this trip showed me that nothing had changed.  From the moment I walked onto the sands and looked out into the distance, I felt an immediate sense of ease.  Deserts and snowy mountains seem to both share a clean perfection that I love.  There was something so perfectly calming about being out in the openness that completely relaxed me.   What we did was probably the opposite of relaxing though.  Nader had arranged a 4WD expedition across the sand dunes for us. 

We were taken well into the desert and I definitely appreciated being so far from anything man-made.  It helped me to properly see the size of the place, the feel the scope of the desert and where I stood within it.

It was a touristy trip.

But I didn't care.

We were even taken to a small training ground for falcons.

The birds were uniquely beautiful, and the location added to the experience of "authenticity" which was in reality completely missing.  It was a strange paradoxical feeling to be able to embrace the culture I wanted to experience in such a manufactured manner.

Maybe this was just part of my progression and development as a traveler.

I certainly seemed to care less about seeking out what many would consider to be the most "authentic" experience, and was probably far more concerned now with seeking out the most enjoyable experience.

Those things don't need to be mutually exclusive, but there is definitely a time and place for some of the more guided experiences.  They help things along and can give you access to an activity that you simply wouldn't be able to organically achieve.

As I sat on a rug in the middle of the desert, eating rice and chicken, looking up at the stars and drinking tea, I was full of appreciation for where I was.  I was in the desert.  I was in Arabia.  I was with a good friend.  Did it matter at all how I had arrived at the place?