The second, and maybe truer reason is to be able to set out on the weekends and explore some terrain. Dune bashing and Wadi bashing are popular passtimes here. Dune bashing consists basically of bringing your car out into the desert and getting stuck in the sand (at least this has been OUR experience). If you're an experienced and daring driver, you can create your own roller coaster ride on the dunes. So far, we haven't been tempted to try this ourselves. One trip
with a tour guide was enough to scare the kids into wanting to stay on more level ground.We have, however gotten into Wadi bashing. According to wikipedia, a wadi is a dry riverbed. In the UAE, a wadi is a well maintained path running through the mountains that happens to follow the path of a river.
Last weekend, we went to Wadi Bih (pronounced BEE). It's a route that traverses the Hajar mountains from the Arabian Gulf on the west to the Omani Gulf on the east. It has some amazing scenery - alot like the grand canyon in places. This is a photo from the highest point on the drive, 1000 meters.
The most fascinating thing in these places are the areas that are cultivated, the shelters made of rocks and signs of habitation in general. You always think, what made people want to live here? We stopped at a terrassed area for our picnic.The guidebook said that these terrasses date back to the 1300's. Through time, they have been maintained and cultivated, providing a lovely picnic area for tourists of the 21st century.
I would love to be able to say that we were all alone and cut off from the rest of civilization, but as we ate, we saw no fewer than 20 cars go by, about 6 of which stopped to do the same thing as us... get away from it all in the oasis.
