According to Islamic beliefs, last Thursday was the occasion of Isra’ and Mi’raj when the prophet Mohamed made a spiritual & physical journey to the furthermost mosque in Jerusalem.
There he met other prophets including Jesus & John the Baptist. He then ascended into the 7 heavens. It was at the 7th heaven he haggled with God about the number of prayers a good Moslem should make every day.
On a heavenly scale of 1 to 7, I was at about a 5. The uncomfortable 44º C shade heat kept me out of the last two heavens & of that course prevented my complaint to God about some of the bad wind days I’d experienced over the years.
Well last Thursday (6 June) being given the day off work for this significant Islamic event, I was in buggying heaven facing an unusual easterly wind which meant I would have to tack upwind to the Buggydrome from my car that was parked under the shade of the Ghaf tree.
Tacking upwind only is usually tricky in the dunes so I kept as much as possible on the sabkhas. It too can be fun as I could get some decent speed (67 kph) when the wind decided to whip up the dust from the desert floor. OK! that’s not fast when you look at the world records which are double that speed but keeping the wheels on our rough rutted floor is an art by itself. I’d hate to think what damage I could do if the buggy flipped at that speed.
After 18 kms (GPS) I arrived at a small camel farm, sipped some water, headed into some dunes towards the SNTTA dune that I led PTW up during his visit a couple of years ago. From there I headed to the Half Pipe.
The wind was perfect and then I really was in heaven. The troughs & dune ridges provide not just amazing scenery but whipping up the leeward side whizzing around at the top, then screaming down to run up the soft leeward side of the adjacent dune. The soft sand caused the buggy to slide down just at the apex of the turn. Maybe not everyone’s cup of tea but I loved it.
After 12 kms of following the arrow on my GPS that was set for the Ghaf, I summited a dune to see my familiar tree with its welcoming shade. Back at the tree, the wind was still blowing so I headed out to run some more dunes before the sun dropped below the horizon.
Go anywhere you like & as far as you like; no dogs, no dog poop, no people, no restrictions, no permit.
Leeward side of dune – Note how soft it is at the apex, which causes the buggy to slide down
A welcome view of the Ghaf Tree
Turning on the sabkha
Resting under the Ghaf tree