Almost4x4

Liwa with Almost family!!
We've been waiting for this trip for sooo long!!
Unfortunately our TJ has done one of those Jeep things last week and [MENTION=3080]Agalon[/MENTION] and i had to join the trip with only our FJ.


We arrived the camp after midnight with our CM guest [MENTION=9783]Daggerfall[/MENTION]:) Most of the campers were long asleep but we had a fun chit chat with the regular all-nighters:)


In the morning [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION] explained us the nature of the territory and off we go!


Driving in Liwa is completely different than what i experienced in other trips. The dunes are way higher. The seemingly flat areas that you may think you'll have no problem at all, somehow has a way to suck your wheels in. There were hidden soft spots everywhere. Scenery was magical and so were the drops!!!


Thanks to Al Shamsi both Agalon and i had the chance to experience Liwa. First turn was mine and i noticed that weight of the car is another important factor. I usually drive with only Duru in car. This time i had [MENTION=3080]Agalon[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9783]Daggerfall[/MENTION] in addition. I noticed the difference from start but it was most obvious when i tried passing a steep crest. I thought i had just the ideal speed to pass it smoothly but out of nowhere i found myself crested. After that i worked on adjusting my speed accordingly. We may have made a few 'small' jumps in the process but it went mostly smooth. Around midday we switched places with Agalon.

At the end of the drive most of our +10 convoy had a dent or two in their bumpers. [MENTION=4569]NoumanK[/MENTION] had the worst hit (hope you recover soon) and we were tired as hell:) Thanks to [MENTION=44]alshamsi[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2]ALKHATIB[/MENTION] for the trip. Thanks to [MENTION=8718]MOMO[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9783]Daggerfall[/MENTION] for excellent shots. See you all soon.

[quote=Solmaz;39833]Liwa with Almost family!!
We've been waiting for this trip for sooo long!!
Unfortunately our TJ has done one of those Jeep things last week and @Agalon and i had to join the trip with only our FJ.


We arrived the camp after midnight with our CM guest @Daggerfall:) Most of the campers were long asleep but we had a fun chit chat with the regular all-nighters:)


In the morning @alshamsi_m explained us the nature of the territory and off we go!


Driving in Liwa is completely different than what i experienced in other trips. The dunes are way higher. The seemingly flat areas that you may think you'll have no problem at all, somehow has a way to suck your wheels in. There were hidden soft spots everywhere. Scenery was magical and so were the drops!!!


Thanks to Al Shamsi both Agalon and i had the chance to experience Liwa. First turn was mine and i noticed that weight of the car is another important factor. I usually drive with only Duru in car. This time i had @Agalon and @Daggerfall in addition. I noticed the difference from start but it was most obvious when i tried passing a steep crest. I thought i had just the ideal speed to pass it smoothly but out of nowhere i found myself crested. After that i worked on adjusting my speed accordingly. We may have made a few 'small' jumps in the process but it went mostly smooth. Around midday we switched places with Agalon.

At the end of the drive most of our +10 convoy had a dent or two in their bumpers. @NoumanK had the worst hit (hope you recover soon) and we were tired as hell:) Thanks to @alshamsi and @ALKHATIB for the trip. Thanks to @MOMO and @Daggerfall for excellent shots. See you all soon.[/quote]

That unhelpful rating is mine :/ Sorry...

Liwa trip last year was one of those I really wanted to join from back when I joined the club and when it was announced i changed my whole schedule to accommodate this trip and was cutting it real close with a presentation date however I managed to pull that off today :D (yay time manegment ) getting back to the topic I arrived at the campsite around midnight and the sand did feel soft but I had no clue how beautiful the place we were camping was once daylight hit the dunes the scenery was simply beautiful . Liwa is one place who's beauty can't be captured on camera lenses it has to be seen with your own eyes .(I know this Cuz the pictures I took on my phone lol nothing different than badayer :p ) the sand is very soft and has a lot of unexpected drops and ditches you never know which side your car might start sinking on . Though based on the style we were driving this drive should be named.tokyo drift drive.cuz there were so many points were we kept going sideways uphill which in the offroading 101 books is a big no no ..... However if you have the right momentum you can attempt this we had some minor damages to cars and bumpers (hope nouman s car a speedy recovery ) I know the feeling wen your baby Takes a rough hit . It hurts the heart of the driver more than the car itself .

all in all everyone got back home safe and sound and the trip was very well managed (thanx to the newbies 10+ for keeping the pace and the drive a very fast moving one ! )
thanks to the founders and marshals for leading ,marshaling sweeping and ensuring safety for all

I really missed the drive...

I left home on Monday evening for camping and got stuck at traffic and at petrol pump in DXB. I lost almost an hour and i adopted the famous word "floor it". I don't know how many tickets will get but i managed to reach the meeting point on time. When I reached met Bu Salem and @orlantsev,While filling the gas @Arminjune, @MOMO and @yassser came. We all followed Bu Salem to the camp sight. At the camp site I had the first stuck. Thanks @MOMO for the recovery. We all set the camp and the weather was freezing. My normal warm cloths didn't worked and thanks @yassser for his extra warm cloth. Around mid-night the second group joined and later on [MENTION=1864]strawb[/MENTION] and @JJ came.

The next day morning everybody get ready and Bu Salem gave us brief and we were ready to roll. Unfortunately my car started showing problem on 4 wheel drive. Was making some noise only on 4 wheels but nothing on 2 wheel drive. By the time we covered 6-7 KM. As per @Abujimmy's instruction @Rashidjass dropped me at the camp site and was driving safely back to home with a mix emotion of sad, irritated, angry, etc.. But on the other hand I was happy that the issue didn't happened more deep inside and didn't gave hard time to anyone.

Happy to read the trip report of every one and nice photos too.

First of all i was sorry to my wife and son to leave them in their important holyday on 2nd..

After all it was liwa dunes.. fantastic one and most dangerous as well ...

1st dec collected gas tank from ace @120/= , try to get a proper steel carrier unfortunately not done, purchased again good rated ratchet tie good one and tied at back side in a very safe way.

2nd december , woke up by 2 am and start journey by 3 am... 120 to 140 km/hrs speed reached camp at 6 am.. after filling petrol on gerry can and self tank, every one was waking up slowly .. by seeing the nice sun rise feels good and better after a long drive..

Approx 9 am we started the game .. well explained or narrated by @alshamsi_m was really helpful on entire drive even though made some mistakes , two stuck where every one on hanger thanks @Rashidjass to pull be back i made one fly after that stuck and another was a stupid stuck ( thanks @Abu Jimmy for nose pulling, @Rashidjass for your viking)

my jerry can was properly winded by unfortunately while negotiation with a slippery , lengthy , steep climb ... its given its way .. again thanks to @Rashidjass to collect it back .. this one i know only after @Rashidjass stopped near to me and asking " where is your can ?" i realise its fly away.. happy to know when he show me in his car .

sorry to see [MENTION=8920]Arun Pandyat[/MENTION] going back with his 4 wheel drive problem , also @NoumanK on his nose hit..

altogether it was a unforgettable experience with 5+ was led by Lead @strawb, @Rashidjass on recovery and @Abu Jimmy as Sweep .. lean a lot thanks to almost to have a touch and feel of liwa deserts ..

drive home reached at 10.30 pm by a half sleep drive. while all my family slept .. sad to see them with out me during holy days.. next time hopefully i shall make with them ..

I heard some rumors about upcoming Liwa trip as soon as Egg Basket finished and I started to mentally prepare for it. Initially, I invited my parents to join, but they felt reluctant considering long journey which in retrospect was good decision. I left home at 6 pm and reached the meeting point one of the first. Bu Salem gave me the EMSF card for which I applied after one of the Rallies. The way to the camp included little portion of sand driving at night which was a bit of a challenge on un-deflated tires. I did not take a tent but instead a folding bed and a sleeping bag rated to -8C. I cannot say that I felt extremely warm, but it was ok. I guess if the temperature was a bit colder I would have struggled.

In the morning we were divided into two convoys. The last two drives (Egg Basket and Catch me of can) I needed to ‘deliver’, but now it was pure pleasure. The sand was indeed very soft. I realized it when I stopped before one drop while waiting for others to go down. I immediately sank and nothing (even Khatib behind the steering) could help, so Momo gave me a little pull.

In terms of learning Liwa in one trip teaches you more than 10 trips to Badayer. In particular it is true about big ‘drops’. We only experienced it once before at Fossil Rock, but here they were many and navigating them became very common. I think we did about 8. I tried to practice quickly switching between 4H and 4L, not always successful, but it was certainly a good practice.

Also Liwa teaches you to keep distance and listen to the radio. When the incident with Nouman happened I was silly to start driving even though I saw something was not going well in front of me. Immediately I heard Bu Salem screaming at the radio for me to stop. Luckily I was still far from the ‘hot’ area, so I went down by an easy track.
Liwa is also an un-explored territory. There are very few (if any) tracks at all. So the choice is really ours and as Bu Salem admitted at the end of the drive that at times the reality was different from what he expected to see before the climb.

Finally Liwa teaches you to be very well prepared. When it is a damage you realize how difficult, if not impossible, to recover the car and get back to the road.
It was simply amazing and I guess every off-roader should at least once to attempt this kind of a trip.

Despite two stucks I was relatively pleased with my own driving as there was not a time I thought: “‘sh…t’, what did I do”, and the car came back home safe.
I drove back to Dubai with Defragmantor. It was helpful to talk on the radio to stay awake. Sorry mate, my radio battery died as we entered Dubai, so I could not say proper good bye.

What a wonderful Liwa , i really excited to the max i can name it Liwa Adrenalin trip
reached meeting point on time ...on the way i saw Armin and Arun (magic of ALMOST Logo ):060:

Next morning started with fresh breakfast omelet eggs
prepared on smoked wood by Badar ( we had 6 eggs only) together..lol
Thanks @Arminjune , jenny for your generosity (cake and eggs )

After valuable briefing from Abu Salem to 10+ drivers about the difficulties that might be ganna face it
(((..Thanks@alshamsi_m for your kind words )) i appreciated it.

we started our adventure journey in Liwa Desert ...i can summarize it

* Sand was very soft like a powder ...you have to act fast ..no time for thinking
* what a big amazing tricky drops we did (my adrenaline reached the sky)....:brigade.baka-wolf.c
Do not be deceived by dune it looks flat ground while climbing but actually its the hell behind it ...this is the most important instruction given by Abu salem
* 6 hours driving , More than 100 km crossed in desert.... what a drive guys :045:
* it was my first time nice experience to rescue one of the Almost members at the top of cresting wow
We had bad situation with Noman car i hope the things went smooth with you bro...
* I do agree with @Orlantsev that One experience trip in Liwa equal ten times than Al Bayader

Dear Offroaders really the desert over there is totally different
i reached my home around 11:00 pm i was so tired and tired ....went straight away to bed bringing sands as souvenir from liwa (of course my wife went crazy :melt:)
next day i did not go to work also:secret laugh:

All in all ....this trip was so special taste

Many thanks to All Marshals and all members for your big efforts ,

see you soon

Some of clicks from liwa

[CENTER][video=youtube;jJoW0Xijpm4][/video][/CENTER]

Awesome video Momo....