Infinity & Beyond Liwa
-
Scorpio
- Marshal
- Posts: 221
- Joined: Fri May 06, 2016 12:05 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 280 times
- Been thanked: 167 times
Hello All,
We had the wind storm,
We had the rain,
We had those flying dunes from one place to another,
We had 2 tyre cuts,
We had one pop-out with valve damage,
We had 2 crested cars,
We had 2 cars stuck in soft sand,
But…...we had 2 FOUNDERS AND 2 MARSHALS with us and there was nothing to worry about yuush
Me, [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and [mention]Shahs[/mention] (joined as a passenger) reached to the last fuel station together where we met with 8 other almosters. From there, we drove to the meeting point as a road convoy and then [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] conducted the briefing and told the convoy sequence. We had a total of 16 cars in the convoy and Bu Salem was leading, [mention]Issa[/mention] was the 2nd lead, [mention]Johanna[/mention] was placed in the middle of the convoy for reinforcement and I was to sweep the convoy. Rashidjass, [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]alshamsi[/mention] were floating around the convoy.
Even though the weather was challenging but we stick to the original plan to cover 120km of distance. The drive started off in a warm up style and gradually picked up the pace. Liwa, even in normal circumstances, is already unpredictable and in such a weather it was double the usual challenge on fire . Bu Salem had the plan and determination to challenge those dunes and he crafted the terrain accordingly. We enjoyed more than 6 hours of Liwa experience and the package included visiting the Yellow Truck (last night when I slept I had a dream that the yellow truck is actually drivable and someone drove it out after we left from there :lol: :lol: ).
As I was sweeping therefore, had the chance to play a little at the back of the convoy; making bigger arches, side sloping on dunes and doing some other fun was possible. During the drive, we reached to a nice high climb and Bu Salem made the track and allowed Inters and above to try it. I never like to miss out on such opportunities to enjoy the adrenaline and to test the learnt skills so far. On reaching to the top there was a crest and it was a sharp one with a ditch on the other side. We had to avoid the ditch, take a loop and had to come back to the crest and park the car nose down. It was fun thumbsup
We had some really soft areas that we went through during the drive and Bu Salem advised to make the distance bigger. I believe it was a good experience for all. I think during this drive the radio communication was good but could have been better. At the newbie level, my humble advise is that you learn and apply those basics principles as much as possible as this is the time when you build your base. Learn the proper technique and learn your car attitude, and the extra car power and all those different car mods that you fantasize about should be secondary. Trust on your abilities, challenge your limits and don’t stop to learn from your experiences. On couple of occasions, I saw people fighting the gravity in rush of crossing a dune or going to the other side of the dune; please don’t do that. There is no hurry; there is no issue trying to attempt multiple times but do it properly as you learn from it and will improve gradually.
There was a nice big wall that we came across and it looked like a usual wall with one bump at the start up. When I went towards it, my car took the bump a little too seriously I think ORLY , as after the bump when the car landed I got my left rear tyre side wall cut from inside wtfsmilie . I was approaching the side wall from right to left and just felt that the left rear tire has lost the traction after that bump. Bu Salem radioed me instantaneously that may be I have a pop-out or tire cut and hence I came down immediately. After reaching the flat ground, I saw that the tire did not have a pop-out and is still on the rim but it’s completely flat and I thought that it leaked the air due to some valve issue but after inspection it was found out that the inner side wall is having a big tear you're kidding, right . I had cut the tyre but fortunately, the spare one was in perfect condition so, everyone just jumped in to replace the tyre.
You won’t believe that I did not remove even a single nut and the job was done; imagine there was so much support available. I would like to sincerely thank each and every one for their assistance and highly appreciate their concern in love . Having a tire cut and replacing it with the spare one is an experience that does not come very easily :lol: ; we had some lucky batch of newbies with us who got that experience that day thumbsup .
This was the second tire that was lost in this drive. Before this, Rashidjass also got his tire cut and me, Shahs, [mention]Yankee doodle[/mention] got it replaced. MEGATRON loves LAVA… thumbsup :lol: :lol:
It was past 1600 hours on the clock and we had completed nearly 110km playingsmiley when Bu Salem called it a day and took us out to the exit safe and sound. We could have continued further as the sun sets after 1830 nowadays but, the next day was a regular working day for most of us so, I think it was a wise decision by the Founder. It was a memorable drive and although I lost a tyre but went back happy and satisfied.
Hope to see you soon in the sand….Until then take care!
Cheers 8-)
We had the wind storm,
We had the rain,
We had those flying dunes from one place to another,
We had 2 tyre cuts,
We had one pop-out with valve damage,
We had 2 crested cars,
We had 2 cars stuck in soft sand,
But…...we had 2 FOUNDERS AND 2 MARSHALS with us and there was nothing to worry about yuush
Me, [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and [mention]Shahs[/mention] (joined as a passenger) reached to the last fuel station together where we met with 8 other almosters. From there, we drove to the meeting point as a road convoy and then [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] conducted the briefing and told the convoy sequence. We had a total of 16 cars in the convoy and Bu Salem was leading, [mention]Issa[/mention] was the 2nd lead, [mention]Johanna[/mention] was placed in the middle of the convoy for reinforcement and I was to sweep the convoy. Rashidjass, [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]alshamsi[/mention] were floating around the convoy.
Even though the weather was challenging but we stick to the original plan to cover 120km of distance. The drive started off in a warm up style and gradually picked up the pace. Liwa, even in normal circumstances, is already unpredictable and in such a weather it was double the usual challenge on fire . Bu Salem had the plan and determination to challenge those dunes and he crafted the terrain accordingly. We enjoyed more than 6 hours of Liwa experience and the package included visiting the Yellow Truck (last night when I slept I had a dream that the yellow truck is actually drivable and someone drove it out after we left from there :lol: :lol: ).
As I was sweeping therefore, had the chance to play a little at the back of the convoy; making bigger arches, side sloping on dunes and doing some other fun was possible. During the drive, we reached to a nice high climb and Bu Salem made the track and allowed Inters and above to try it. I never like to miss out on such opportunities to enjoy the adrenaline and to test the learnt skills so far. On reaching to the top there was a crest and it was a sharp one with a ditch on the other side. We had to avoid the ditch, take a loop and had to come back to the crest and park the car nose down. It was fun thumbsup
We had some really soft areas that we went through during the drive and Bu Salem advised to make the distance bigger. I believe it was a good experience for all. I think during this drive the radio communication was good but could have been better. At the newbie level, my humble advise is that you learn and apply those basics principles as much as possible as this is the time when you build your base. Learn the proper technique and learn your car attitude, and the extra car power and all those different car mods that you fantasize about should be secondary. Trust on your abilities, challenge your limits and don’t stop to learn from your experiences. On couple of occasions, I saw people fighting the gravity in rush of crossing a dune or going to the other side of the dune; please don’t do that. There is no hurry; there is no issue trying to attempt multiple times but do it properly as you learn from it and will improve gradually.
There was a nice big wall that we came across and it looked like a usual wall with one bump at the start up. When I went towards it, my car took the bump a little too seriously I think ORLY , as after the bump when the car landed I got my left rear tyre side wall cut from inside wtfsmilie . I was approaching the side wall from right to left and just felt that the left rear tire has lost the traction after that bump. Bu Salem radioed me instantaneously that may be I have a pop-out or tire cut and hence I came down immediately. After reaching the flat ground, I saw that the tire did not have a pop-out and is still on the rim but it’s completely flat and I thought that it leaked the air due to some valve issue but after inspection it was found out that the inner side wall is having a big tear you're kidding, right . I had cut the tyre but fortunately, the spare one was in perfect condition so, everyone just jumped in to replace the tyre.
You won’t believe that I did not remove even a single nut and the job was done; imagine there was so much support available. I would like to sincerely thank each and every one for their assistance and highly appreciate their concern in love . Having a tire cut and replacing it with the spare one is an experience that does not come very easily :lol: ; we had some lucky batch of newbies with us who got that experience that day thumbsup .
This was the second tire that was lost in this drive. Before this, Rashidjass also got his tire cut and me, Shahs, [mention]Yankee doodle[/mention] got it replaced. MEGATRON loves LAVA… thumbsup :lol: :lol:
It was past 1600 hours on the clock and we had completed nearly 110km playingsmiley when Bu Salem called it a day and took us out to the exit safe and sound. We could have continued further as the sun sets after 1830 nowadays but, the next day was a regular working day for most of us so, I think it was a wise decision by the Founder. It was a memorable drive and although I lost a tyre but went back happy and satisfied.
Hope to see you soon in the sand….Until then take care!
Cheers 8-)
Scorpio
+971 55 5804488
Drives a grey FJ 'Everest'
The race for excellence has no finish line!
+971 55 5804488
Drives a grey FJ 'Everest'
The race for excellence has no finish line!
-
Booy
- Golden Member
- Posts: 258
- Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:55 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 3 times
- Been thanked: 1 time
Hello everyone,
We had a jammed pack weekend of action in the desert - our Club Member drive on Friday morning, an "All lead drive" for the intermediates on Friday afternoon, and a full day drive in Liwa for the newbies.
Liwa was beautiful as always, even with the strong wind in the morning and again later in the afternoon. I left RAK at 4:30am on Saturday morning, to meet @Rooies at a fuel station in Dubai at 6:00am. There were other almosters too, getting breakfast and stocking up on supply for the day.
Some of the intermediates experienced what it is like to be the leading car on Friday in the "All lead" drive, and realized what it's like to find a good and safe track. This was done in perfect weather conditions on Friday. With that said, a very special thanks to @alshamshi_m who lead a convoy of newbies safely through the Liwa desert, in harsh windy conditions, with zero incident on a safe track. I can assure you that it is no easy task to lead a convoy in such conditions.
Despite the wind, the desert was beautiful with all the contrast of colors, dunes as far as the eyes can see, no other convoys in the sand and untouched terrain. Being so far from civilization has some calming effect on the mind...
Looking forward to reading more trip reports about this drive...
See you in the sand again - soonest.
Regards,
Booy
We had a jammed pack weekend of action in the desert - our Club Member drive on Friday morning, an "All lead drive" for the intermediates on Friday afternoon, and a full day drive in Liwa for the newbies.
Liwa was beautiful as always, even with the strong wind in the morning and again later in the afternoon. I left RAK at 4:30am on Saturday morning, to meet @Rooies at a fuel station in Dubai at 6:00am. There were other almosters too, getting breakfast and stocking up on supply for the day.
Some of the intermediates experienced what it is like to be the leading car on Friday in the "All lead" drive, and realized what it's like to find a good and safe track. This was done in perfect weather conditions on Friday. With that said, a very special thanks to @alshamshi_m who lead a convoy of newbies safely through the Liwa desert, in harsh windy conditions, with zero incident on a safe track. I can assure you that it is no easy task to lead a convoy in such conditions.
Despite the wind, the desert was beautiful with all the contrast of colors, dunes as far as the eyes can see, no other convoys in the sand and untouched terrain. Being so far from civilization has some calming effect on the mind...
Looking forward to reading more trip reports about this drive...
See you in the sand again - soonest.
Regards,
Booy
@Booy
Blue FJ Cruiser, with an Atlas on the door
Blue FJ Cruiser, with an Atlas on the door
repositioning the thousands tools back in order in the tool box was also huge effort by the Team grin
Gianluca (aka Loca)
Black/White FJ (aka La Ciccina)
Mobile 0561776322
Black/White FJ (aka La Ciccina)
Mobile 0561776322
Dear Almosters,
this was my 4th drive in Liwa and regardless weather or adverse conditions that place is worth the early weak up and the long transfer.
I left Dubai at 6am and rain showers were my company for most of the drive to the meeting point. In the last 40Km after exiting E11 the wind was so strong that I started to fear I'd have had to quit the drive due to the flying sand. I wear contact lenses and due to my business travels in the past weeks I couldn't find proper mask to keep my eyes safe.
When I reached the last petrol station at around 8.30am I found the happy community of Almosters already there chit chatting and giving warm welcome to the new comers.
During refueling [mention]thiago[/mention] kindly cleaned my windshield but yuush .. never get windshield cleaned by Thiago grin I'm happy to know he doesn't clean windshields to pay his bills and I know he is very good in his real job thumbsup
[mention]Rooies[/mention] really made my day: when I shared the challenge with my eyes he offered a spare mask which performed amazingly and kept my eyes protected for all the drive. Thank you Rooies, it really meant a lot to me in love
Almosters, you all have big hearts blank
We moved from petrol station to the entry point and [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] delivered the briefing. As usual, Bu Salem was very accurate in sharing the details of the route and included wind and weather forecasts to prepare us properly to the drive. Composition of the convoy has been reported bu [mention]Scorpio[/mention] and I was car n.7, behind [mention]kriskian[/mention] . We experienced everything you can expect from a 100Km+ drive in Liwa but [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] managed to engineer the drive and the level of difficulty to a point that we didn't experience what you don't want to experience. I was close enough to see him and every single move was calculated to fit the level of the drivers. I really think he is blessed by this gift and the good part is that he shares this skill with our Marshals so all the drives with Almosters are safe as tailored to the experience of the drivers.
What I learned from the drive ...
1. find and keep the right distance. There is not one size fits all .. the right distance depends on many factors including weather conditions and can change during the same drive
2. don't downshift when doing a steep arc unless you have manual transmission: with AT there is electronic between you and transmission and most of the times electronic decides on your behalf. The fact .. I approached a steep tall dune with 2nd gear and I thought to downshift mid way and keep speed. The transmission didn't downshift and I lost momentum while doing this action. Luckily I had just about the speed I needed to steer down. Otherwise it could have been quite risky
3. stay far from bumpy tracks when climbing after a drop as Gina (my Pajero) needs flat sand to transfer his traction and grip to the ground.
Apart from the cold sweat experienced from lesson n.2 I had no issues, no 2nd tries and I'm happy on how Gina behaved. She could have done better in terms of fuel consumption but also in this case I was prepared by the advise shared by Bu Salem before the drive and I had 2x 20L jerry cans to keep any anxiety far.
The drive was so rewarding I didn't feel tiredness. I reached back home at 9pm and I slept all night long as a baby grin
As [mention]Booy[/mention] mentioned in his report, the beauty of the landscape was amazing. It was like being in a different world, far from the noise and the stress of day by day life.
Thanks to our leader [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] who wanted and arranged this drive. Thanks to the 2nd lead [mention]Issa[/mention] who found easier paths for us when the 1st lead was putting his wheels into challenging spots. Thanks to [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] who where everywhere and never stopped delivering advises during the many hours of the drive. Thanks to [mention]Johanna[/mention] who helped with the rescues and last in the convoy but not least in the value thanks to [mention]Scorpio[/mention] and [mention]alshamsi[/mention] who were our sweeping angels
That's all for this drive
Looking forward to seeing you soon
this was my 4th drive in Liwa and regardless weather or adverse conditions that place is worth the early weak up and the long transfer.
I left Dubai at 6am and rain showers were my company for most of the drive to the meeting point. In the last 40Km after exiting E11 the wind was so strong that I started to fear I'd have had to quit the drive due to the flying sand. I wear contact lenses and due to my business travels in the past weeks I couldn't find proper mask to keep my eyes safe.
When I reached the last petrol station at around 8.30am I found the happy community of Almosters already there chit chatting and giving warm welcome to the new comers.
During refueling [mention]thiago[/mention] kindly cleaned my windshield but yuush .. never get windshield cleaned by Thiago grin I'm happy to know he doesn't clean windshields to pay his bills and I know he is very good in his real job thumbsup
[mention]Rooies[/mention] really made my day: when I shared the challenge with my eyes he offered a spare mask which performed amazingly and kept my eyes protected for all the drive. Thank you Rooies, it really meant a lot to me in love
Almosters, you all have big hearts blank
We moved from petrol station to the entry point and [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] delivered the briefing. As usual, Bu Salem was very accurate in sharing the details of the route and included wind and weather forecasts to prepare us properly to the drive. Composition of the convoy has been reported bu [mention]Scorpio[/mention] and I was car n.7, behind [mention]kriskian[/mention] . We experienced everything you can expect from a 100Km+ drive in Liwa but [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] managed to engineer the drive and the level of difficulty to a point that we didn't experience what you don't want to experience. I was close enough to see him and every single move was calculated to fit the level of the drivers. I really think he is blessed by this gift and the good part is that he shares this skill with our Marshals so all the drives with Almosters are safe as tailored to the experience of the drivers.
What I learned from the drive ...
1. find and keep the right distance. There is not one size fits all .. the right distance depends on many factors including weather conditions and can change during the same drive
2. don't downshift when doing a steep arc unless you have manual transmission: with AT there is electronic between you and transmission and most of the times electronic decides on your behalf. The fact .. I approached a steep tall dune with 2nd gear and I thought to downshift mid way and keep speed. The transmission didn't downshift and I lost momentum while doing this action. Luckily I had just about the speed I needed to steer down. Otherwise it could have been quite risky
3. stay far from bumpy tracks when climbing after a drop as Gina (my Pajero) needs flat sand to transfer his traction and grip to the ground.
Apart from the cold sweat experienced from lesson n.2 I had no issues, no 2nd tries and I'm happy on how Gina behaved. She could have done better in terms of fuel consumption but also in this case I was prepared by the advise shared by Bu Salem before the drive and I had 2x 20L jerry cans to keep any anxiety far.
The drive was so rewarding I didn't feel tiredness. I reached back home at 9pm and I slept all night long as a baby grin
As [mention]Booy[/mention] mentioned in his report, the beauty of the landscape was amazing. It was like being in a different world, far from the noise and the stress of day by day life.
Thanks to our leader [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] who wanted and arranged this drive. Thanks to the 2nd lead [mention]Issa[/mention] who found easier paths for us when the 1st lead was putting his wheels into challenging spots. Thanks to [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] who where everywhere and never stopped delivering advises during the many hours of the drive. Thanks to [mention]Johanna[/mention] who helped with the rescues and last in the convoy but not least in the value thanks to [mention]Scorpio[/mention] and [mention]alshamsi[/mention] who were our sweeping angels
That's all for this drive
Looking forward to seeing you soon
Gianluca (aka Loca)
Black/White FJ (aka La Ciccina)
Mobile 0561776322
Black/White FJ (aka La Ciccina)
Mobile 0561776322
-
kriskian
- Intermediate
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:37 am
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 1 time
On the last couple of drives that opened for LIWA was not able to get a place, this time got one.... when I shared this news with my spouse the first reaction was your son is traveling that day you cannot go eyes on fire somehow managed to convince her after doing some calculation on the time it would take to go and come back from LIWA had my fingers crossed when I promised her that.
Reached Liwa in time caught up with everyone on the last petrol station and then we drove to the meeting point, the wind was blowing strong and deflating was not easy. After a quick briefing, we started the drive the wind speed was high and it was very disorienting for the initial period of the drive as time went buy kept getting comfortable with the conditions.
The soft sand required us to keep good distance but keeping too much distance meant you could easily lose the track as the wind would wipe the tracks out clean, this required us to give 100% focus, get distracted at you make a mistake that how I had my first-second try.
The drops were big the scenery was awesome and the company was perfect, learnt a lot about endurance and what it means to drive long hours in the sand.
Thanks for the opportunity and the learning it was a fantabulous experience.
Reached Liwa in time caught up with everyone on the last petrol station and then we drove to the meeting point, the wind was blowing strong and deflating was not easy. After a quick briefing, we started the drive the wind speed was high and it was very disorienting for the initial period of the drive as time went buy kept getting comfortable with the conditions.
The soft sand required us to keep good distance but keeping too much distance meant you could easily lose the track as the wind would wipe the tracks out clean, this required us to give 100% focus, get distracted at you make a mistake that how I had my first-second try.
The drops were big the scenery was awesome and the company was perfect, learnt a lot about endurance and what it means to drive long hours in the sand.
Thanks for the opportunity and the learning it was a fantabulous experience.
kriskian,
Grey FJ
Grey FJ
-
Johanna
- Golden Member
- Posts: 192
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:04 pm
- Location: Dubai
- Has thanked: 1 time
Hello all,
this weekend was fully packed with drives, but can you imagine a better weekend? in love
It was literally an "EAT, SLEEP,OFFROAD,REPEAT" weekend.
I meet with [mention]Haani[/mention] at 6am in the patrol station and we reached the last patrol station at 8:30. Most of the people we found at the patrol station and we left all together to the meeting point.
The wind was very strong and the sand striking my naked legs even a bit painfull wtfsmilie
At this point special thanks to [mention]Rooies[/mention] (or [mention]Booy[/mention] ?) for the mask, it was a life saver in this sandstorm.
The plan was to finish 120km with a cut off time at 6pm. The track was perfect for an endurance drive, with easy parts to relax and some challenges in high dunes with soft sand.
I drove in the middle of the convoy, most of the time we went smoothly through the dunes. I noticed that we often had a queue before an obstacle which was not always necessary, so alwáys try to maintain the right distance to ensure a continous flow.
The visibilty was nearly zero at some points, so I needed rescue after I fell into a ditch, thank you [mention]Booy[/mention]
I also got the chance to do a rescue, [mention]Issa[/mention] got crested on a sharp dune before a steep drop, thanks for this practice and congrats to your rescue chain. thumbsup
It was beautiful drive, especially in the storm it was a unique experience in love
I was so finished after the drive, but still 3.5 hours to go back home. I drove together with [mention]Issa[/mention] so we prevent each other from falling asleep.
I reached home at 9pm, after 15 hours of driving. Its already Monday, but I am still tired ORLY
See you all soon in the sand, and don´t forget the Meat and Greet camp coming Thursday! grin
this weekend was fully packed with drives, but can you imagine a better weekend? in love
It was literally an "EAT, SLEEP,OFFROAD,REPEAT" weekend.
I meet with [mention]Haani[/mention] at 6am in the patrol station and we reached the last patrol station at 8:30. Most of the people we found at the patrol station and we left all together to the meeting point.
The wind was very strong and the sand striking my naked legs even a bit painfull wtfsmilie
At this point special thanks to [mention]Rooies[/mention] (or [mention]Booy[/mention] ?) for the mask, it was a life saver in this sandstorm.
The plan was to finish 120km with a cut off time at 6pm. The track was perfect for an endurance drive, with easy parts to relax and some challenges in high dunes with soft sand.
I drove in the middle of the convoy, most of the time we went smoothly through the dunes. I noticed that we often had a queue before an obstacle which was not always necessary, so alwáys try to maintain the right distance to ensure a continous flow.
The visibilty was nearly zero at some points, so I needed rescue after I fell into a ditch, thank you [mention]Booy[/mention]
I also got the chance to do a rescue, [mention]Issa[/mention] got crested on a sharp dune before a steep drop, thanks for this practice and congrats to your rescue chain. thumbsup
It was beautiful drive, especially in the storm it was a unique experience in love
I was so finished after the drive, but still 3.5 hours to go back home. I drove together with [mention]Issa[/mention] so we prevent each other from falling asleep.
I reached home at 9pm, after 15 hours of driving. Its already Monday, but I am still tired ORLY
See you all soon in the sand, and don´t forget the Meat and Greet camp coming Thursday! grin
BR, Johanna
If it excites you and scares you at the same time, it probably means you should do it.
If it excites you and scares you at the same time, it probably means you should do it.
-
Jasper
- Intermediate
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:02 pm
- Has thanked: 112 times
- Been thanked: 83 times
Hello everyone!
The original plan was that there will be a camp on Friday night and we drive 830am on Saturday. But due to the weather forecast [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] called off the camp. Liwa is 3.5 hrs drive so I was planning to go to the camp in the evening so I get a good sleep before the whole day of drive on Saturday - so change plans. I've booked Tilal Liwa Hotel as an alternative. Good alternative if I may say. Thanks [mention]panos[/mention] for the advise. So the drive started for me 6pm on Friday in a convoy with [mention]panos[/mention]. We've arrived in Liwa around 10pm.
Next morning we've met with the guys at the meeting point. Started deflating with eyes closed due to the sand blowing in your face! Used an extra shirt to cover my face ninja style :)
Briefing was done by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and the plan was to cover 120kms. Told myself this will be challenging but I'm up for this. As this is my first Liwa trip I was lucky enough to be assigned as the 4th car.
During the drive we had the usual - tire cuts, pop outs and second tries. With this long drive you'd be amazed that the worse that happened was just tire cuts. There were parts of the drive that my eyes were playing with me. I was following [mention]Mohamadahshan[/mention] and I thought I was close to him and the next second he was 30 meters away. This happened few times during the last part of the drive. Maybe my eyes just got too tired on looking at the endless sea of sand (desert tricks maybe).
The trickiest part for me was when we have to pass a V shaped, almost wall to wall area where we have to go straight then turn right to go down. The challenge was not to hit the wall and get a pop up but gain enough momentum to clear the crest to go down right. The additional challenge was exactly when the sand blew hard and you can't see anything. I just have to stop and do a second try.
The sand was blowing hard with some parts of the drive with rain. Navigating is really hard (well for me that is). Really thankful to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for the paving the great track for group, [mention]Issa[/mention] for the great second lead, [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] for monitoring the convoy while floating, [mention]Scorpio[/mention] for the sweeping and [mention]Johanna [/mention] for the supporting the pulls :)
The emptiness of Liwa both is scary and relaxing. Thinking of being there left alone is unimaginable.
God bless you all and thank you again for this experience.
See you all soon!
Drive stats:
The original plan was that there will be a camp on Friday night and we drive 830am on Saturday. But due to the weather forecast [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] called off the camp. Liwa is 3.5 hrs drive so I was planning to go to the camp in the evening so I get a good sleep before the whole day of drive on Saturday - so change plans. I've booked Tilal Liwa Hotel as an alternative. Good alternative if I may say. Thanks [mention]panos[/mention] for the advise. So the drive started for me 6pm on Friday in a convoy with [mention]panos[/mention]. We've arrived in Liwa around 10pm.
Next morning we've met with the guys at the meeting point. Started deflating with eyes closed due to the sand blowing in your face! Used an extra shirt to cover my face ninja style :)
Briefing was done by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and the plan was to cover 120kms. Told myself this will be challenging but I'm up for this. As this is my first Liwa trip I was lucky enough to be assigned as the 4th car.
During the drive we had the usual - tire cuts, pop outs and second tries. With this long drive you'd be amazed that the worse that happened was just tire cuts. There were parts of the drive that my eyes were playing with me. I was following [mention]Mohamadahshan[/mention] and I thought I was close to him and the next second he was 30 meters away. This happened few times during the last part of the drive. Maybe my eyes just got too tired on looking at the endless sea of sand (desert tricks maybe).
The trickiest part for me was when we have to pass a V shaped, almost wall to wall area where we have to go straight then turn right to go down. The challenge was not to hit the wall and get a pop up but gain enough momentum to clear the crest to go down right. The additional challenge was exactly when the sand blew hard and you can't see anything. I just have to stop and do a second try.
The sand was blowing hard with some parts of the drive with rain. Navigating is really hard (well for me that is). Really thankful to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for the paving the great track for group, [mention]Issa[/mention] for the great second lead, [mention]Booy[/mention] and [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] for monitoring the convoy while floating, [mention]Scorpio[/mention] for the sweeping and [mention]Johanna [/mention] for the supporting the pulls :)
The emptiness of Liwa both is scary and relaxing. Thinking of being there left alone is unimaginable.
God bless you all and thank you again for this experience.
See you all soon!
Drive stats:
