A Trip to the Desert
A few weeks ago my mom and brother came out to visit me and the family. We did a city tour, country tour, visited the souqs but our most exciting trip was to the inland sea.
Google Maps
There are a couple of rules you try to follow when driving 20 miles into the desert. Things like not going alone and using a reliable car are on the top of the list. Well, I’m Russell and I’ve been out in the desert enough to take a couple of chance. Since it wasn’t a weekend there wasn’t anybody else available to go with us. My car’s performance had been a little spotty but I figured as long as I took it easy it would be OK.
Well, as you can probably guess things didn’t go as well as planned. We made it to Sealine which is the resort right outside where the dunes begin. This is where you let the air out of your tires so they have bigger footprints. Well I forgot the tire gauge so we had to estimate what 15 psi looked like. No big deal but I should have taken it as a sign. After letting out the air we went up and down a couple of the safe dunes. These were considered safe because if I got stuck we could walk back to Sealine. We got stuck a couple of times but nothing too big and it added to the experience. After this we decided to head to the inland sea. For most of the way we stayed on what’s called the desert highway. It’s a worn path that you can drive 60 miles an hour on. It’s what I would imagine the Utah salt flats to be like, except surrounded by dunes. We made it to the inland sea without incident and decided to stop and take some pictures from on top of a dune. After the photo op we got back in to the Galloper and nothing happened. The car wouldn’t start. My first thought was huh, I must have left it in drive. Looked down, nope it’s in park. I had my reoccurring urge of wishing I had taken that auto shop class instead of Spanish back in high school. I then go into denial. No, no way I’m stuck in the middle of the desert with a car that’s not starting. Not a big deal something always turns up. And it did, a car came over the ridge and saw us. I waved and they turned around and drove away. Great. So my brother and I kicked tires and analyzed the little noises a car makes when it’s not doing what it’s supposed to. So after I came to the conclusion that we were in a fix I went on a walk to try and find some help.
I had a couple of things going through my mind. Kara just suffered a miscarriage, my mom being diagnosed with breast cancer and now I just got us stuck in the middle of nowhere because I was stupid. The book of Job did come to mind at this point. So I started praying. Some people call it desperate but I decided it was about time. After about 30 seconds of telling God that I’ve had enough and I need intervention the car I apparently waved off came back with another one. It was two English families who were completely useless with cars but did give me the idea to call the police. They also told me the car I was walking to earlier was abandoned and appeared to be stuck in the sand. Apparently I’m not the first person to get stuck out here. I did call the police and they quickly connected me to the local post where nobody spoke English. As I was making this call the guy in charge of this mystery outpost drove up and asked if we needed any help. He was the one guy who did speak English. I asked him to translate to the guy on the phone but he informed me he was who I needed and he would tow me to the station.
This is where it got weird. He pulls my car through the dunes to the police station. A bunch of guys in traditional dress walk out and start poking and prodding at my engine. They all argue in Arabic about what the issue is and keep on asking me to try and start the car. During this time my mom and brother are enjoying a drink in the shade with the support team of a guy who just Kayaked around the country (http://www.axabelifeconfident.com/challenge.htm). I went to see how they were doing and all of a sudden my car was started. The starter was broken and apparently one guy stuck a pipe in the engine to bridge a connection and bam we were ready to go. But this is the Middle East, a stranger just pulled me out of the desert and fixed my car. We were practically family now. He invited us in for tea and my mom and brother had their second sit down Arabic tea session. Next we were invited to go see a small “island” (Google Maps) on the police company boat with the kayak crew. After that we were invited for a sit down lunch. Sit down lunch being we sat down on the floor around a plate of rice and chicken.
After that we said our goodbyes and I gave our new friend my mobile incase he ever needed a favor. Offering money would have been highly offensive. He in return gave us Supreme Council for the Environment gift packs consisting of a hat, t-shirt and PR brochure written in Arabic. Our friend also called us to make sure that we got out of the desert OK. We made it back without an incident and I called my mechanic friend to work his magic and my mom and brother have had an experience that I could have never planned. Just another random day in Qatar.
Google Maps
There are a couple of rules you try to follow when driving 20 miles into the desert. Things like not going alone and using a reliable car are on the top of the list. Well, I’m Russell and I’ve been out in the desert enough to take a couple of chance. Since it wasn’t a weekend there wasn’t anybody else available to go with us. My car’s performance had been a little spotty but I figured as long as I took it easy it would be OK.
Well, as you can probably guess things didn’t go as well as planned. We made it to Sealine which is the resort right outside where the dunes begin. This is where you let the air out of your tires so they have bigger footprints. Well I forgot the tire gauge so we had to estimate what 15 psi looked like. No big deal but I should have taken it as a sign. After letting out the air we went up and down a couple of the safe dunes. These were considered safe because if I got stuck we could walk back to Sealine. We got stuck a couple of times but nothing too big and it added to the experience. After this we decided to head to the inland sea. For most of the way we stayed on what’s called the desert highway. It’s a worn path that you can drive 60 miles an hour on. It’s what I would imagine the Utah salt flats to be like, except surrounded by dunes. We made it to the inland sea without incident and decided to stop and take some pictures from on top of a dune. After the photo op we got back in to the Galloper and nothing happened. The car wouldn’t start. My first thought was huh, I must have left it in drive. Looked down, nope it’s in park. I had my reoccurring urge of wishing I had taken that auto shop class instead of Spanish back in high school. I then go into denial. No, no way I’m stuck in the middle of the desert with a car that’s not starting. Not a big deal something always turns up. And it did, a car came over the ridge and saw us. I waved and they turned around and drove away. Great. So my brother and I kicked tires and analyzed the little noises a car makes when it’s not doing what it’s supposed to. So after I came to the conclusion that we were in a fix I went on a walk to try and find some help.
I had a couple of things going through my mind. Kara just suffered a miscarriage, my mom being diagnosed with breast cancer and now I just got us stuck in the middle of nowhere because I was stupid. The book of Job did come to mind at this point. So I started praying. Some people call it desperate but I decided it was about time. After about 30 seconds of telling God that I’ve had enough and I need intervention the car I apparently waved off came back with another one. It was two English families who were completely useless with cars but did give me the idea to call the police. They also told me the car I was walking to earlier was abandoned and appeared to be stuck in the sand. Apparently I’m not the first person to get stuck out here. I did call the police and they quickly connected me to the local post where nobody spoke English. As I was making this call the guy in charge of this mystery outpost drove up and asked if we needed any help. He was the one guy who did speak English. I asked him to translate to the guy on the phone but he informed me he was who I needed and he would tow me to the station.
This is where it got weird. He pulls my car through the dunes to the police station. A bunch of guys in traditional dress walk out and start poking and prodding at my engine. They all argue in Arabic about what the issue is and keep on asking me to try and start the car. During this time my mom and brother are enjoying a drink in the shade with the support team of a guy who just Kayaked around the country (http://www.axabelifeconfident.com/challenge.htm). I went to see how they were doing and all of a sudden my car was started. The starter was broken and apparently one guy stuck a pipe in the engine to bridge a connection and bam we were ready to go. But this is the Middle East, a stranger just pulled me out of the desert and fixed my car. We were practically family now. He invited us in for tea and my mom and brother had their second sit down Arabic tea session. Next we were invited to go see a small “island” (Google Maps) on the police company boat with the kayak crew. After that we were invited for a sit down lunch. Sit down lunch being we sat down on the floor around a plate of rice and chicken.
After that we said our goodbyes and I gave our new friend my mobile incase he ever needed a favor. Offering money would have been highly offensive. He in return gave us Supreme Council for the Environment gift packs consisting of a hat, t-shirt and PR brochure written in Arabic. Our friend also called us to make sure that we got out of the desert OK. We made it back without an incident and I called my mechanic friend to work his magic and my mom and brother have had an experience that I could have never planned. Just another random day in Qatar.
posted by Russell at
11:41 PM
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