Arabian Nights

One of the interesting things to do in Dubai was going to the desert and riding on a camel. I could register for “the Desert tour” at the hotel reception. I went to make the reservation with my friend, but I hesitated to join the tour. I had two choices: joining the tour alone, or not going. My friend had work and she wouldn’t come with me. A receptionist told me, “Don’t hesitate to join the tour, you’re not the only person who would go to the desert. There are many people who will join the tour. You could make friends there.” If it was just two or three hours sightseeing at the desert, I could join it easily. However the tour was half a day long and included a BBQ dinner at the desert. I was worried that if I were all alone it would be long and lonely. My friend told me, “If you wanted to go to the desert, you should join the tour.” After consideration, my desire to go to the desert won to all my worrying about the tour. Finally I decided to join it.

On the day of the tour, I was nervous until the tour guide/driver picked me up at the hotel. He was kind and recommended me to sit in the front seat. He stopped by two other hotels and picked up five other passengers. One of them was an arrogant man and he insisted on sitting in the front seat. The driver could have asked me to move to the back seat, but he refused the request from the arrogant man. After an hour driving, our car stopped at a small shop and took a break. When I was back at the car, the arrogant man took the front seat. I actually didn’t care to sit in the back seat but I disliked his attitude. He didn’t ask me to change the seat but just sat in the front seat. When the driver saw me he let the arrogant man move to the back seat. The driver whispered to me, “I told the guy that you reserved the front seat. So you don’t need to be worried about your seat. It’s yours.” Of course I didn’t make any special reservation, but I appreciated his kindness. Except the arrogant man, all passengers were very nice. After arriving at the desert, we were gathered around our guide/driver and took photos of each other and enjoyed talking. I didn’t need to be worried about being alone.

I enjoyed the camel ride, water pipe, and BBQ. The camels were very calm and nice. The best thing about them was they could kneel down when I got on their back and they could stand up later.

The camel ride was really comfortable for me. I couldn’t walk well on sand but the camel moved smoothly. Also I could enjoy good scenery from their back. I felt like I was a queen in the desert.

About the water pipe, I had no idea about it. I didn’t even know whether I should inhale or exhale when I used the water pipe. I saw bubbles in a bottle, so I exhaled for a while.

However I naturally noticed that exhaling made nothing. I realised I should inhale. I inhaled a bit. The flavour was apple. I’ve never smoked even normal tobacco, so I didn’t know how I could enjoy smoking a water pipe. Anyway I enjoyed the atmosphere.

I actually missed a very important moment. I didn’t notice the sunset. I saw lots of beautiful photos of sunset in the desert. I should have taken wonderful sunset photos there. However when I noticed, it was already dark. I still don’t know why I didn’t notice it.

After becoming dark, a belly dance show started. The dancer was obviously different from the photo on the brochure. On the photo, the dancer was slim and beautiful. However the dancer in front of me was a bit scary. After her dancing, she encouraged everybody to come to the stage and dance together. I was more interested in the BBQ than dancing. So I didn’t join it.

The BBQ dinner wasn’t what I imagined. The staff prepared the BBQ meal and served it on our individual plates. It was like a cafeteria buffet.

But it was an interesting event that over 100 people gathered at one place in the middle of desert for from all over the world. And probably I would never be able to see any of them in future.