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Gulf News Fun Drive 2017 - The Liwa Experience


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Gulf News Fun Drive 2017 will be the 26th edition and guess what, they are going to Liwa.

Please advise here if you have already signed up and advise your driver number allocated to you.

http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/leisure/fun-drive-to-roll-in-36th-edition-1.1948674

 

Edited by Rahimdad
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  • 3 weeks later...

Welcome back to those who have been to Liwa this weekend and back, whether it was with Gulf News or just with a few friends.

@Gaurav and myself formed part of a team of 14 strong individuals, both of us had been away from Liwa for the past 4 years for one reason or the other. We both agree that this was the best Liwa outing ever.

We started on Thursday evening with a meeting at one of the Adnoc petrol stations on the way to Abu Dhabi at 7 pm, Started from the Adnoc station around 7:30 pm as a convoy to reach a Mandi restaurant around 8:30 pm in Musaffah Area in Abu Dhabi. Had a good meal and chat with like minded people, each one of us excited to advance to the next stage of the trip. Around 9:30 pm started from the restaurant and on the the camping ground in Fathiya with a Petrol Station close by. We could not beleive our eyes but some Gulf New participants had also decided to come early and camp the night out as about 850 participants on the only petrol station around would be a very difficult predicament to be in. We filled up our cars and the extra fuel cans we had carried with us just in case we ran out of fuel where we could not find any petrol station.

As we drove in trying to discover a nice place to settle down we realized how soft the sand in Liwa was almost like quick sand in a few areas. We learned the hard way as we had a couple of stucks and a pop-out. While a few of us tried to help each other and get the convoy moving, the rest of us went in search of that perfect spot for camping. It did not take us too long and just 2 Kilometers in from the Adnoc pump we found that suitable spot. We got our camp fire going with the ample wood that we had gathered, and were soon joined by the rest of the convoy. It had been such a long time since we last had a good hearty chat, we sat around catching up on what we had missed. Suddenly a voice echoed, "Its 3 am, go to sleep." We realized we all needed some rest to cope with the harsh environment in the Liwa area. Slowly and hesitantly each one headed to their tents, the good thing is, all of us fall asleep as we hit our beds in our tents.

We were woken up to the excitement of a drive that we had been looking forward to and chatting about all week. But before we could head out, a nice breakfast awaited us with some awesome tea to open our eyes to a beautiful morning. In the excitement we all had a quick bite and packed our tents in a real hurry anticipating the drive to kick off. Quicker than someone to ask if we were all ready, we were seated in our cars and all ready to go. As we headed out, we made sure we did not get in the way of the Gulf News participants, taking some awesome dunes. At times we realized how tough and different the terrain was as some soft patches where some cars really bogged down, this included myself a couple of times. The trip leader asked me to deflate further and after a second time I actually listened to him. After deflating further I felt my car was well afloat and I never got stuck on a single occasion after that, my sincere appreciation for our amazing trip leader. We drove from around 9 am to about 1 pm and found a suitable spot to settle down for some lunch.

Like thirsty horses ridden around a desert our rides were given a well deserved break and a genius plan gave us a some very nice shade from the afternoon sun. We all settled down as the fire got going again and our master chef and his trusted helpers started preparing Mutton karahi. Some snacks were going around and chats and laughter and discussions of what we had achieved in the first 4 hours in the day. Our Muslim brother offered the afternoon prayers and after a bit of a wait the lunch was ready, out came the plates the Mutton karahi along with some Chicken Mince was placed, while Gaurav bhai made his own vegetarian dish and we all enjoyed a hearty meal. We were all feeling a bit heavy as the food was so delicious that we could not help but over-eat. Soon we were all washed up, packed and ready to go.

The second half saw very little stucks and all the ups and downs made sure our lunch was digested. We went through some wonderful dunes and some gauge tracks. some of the gauge tracks lead to a set of beautiful virgin dunes and it was just a pleasure driving through them knowing that we had a very strong team and individuals who were always willing to help. Some of these tracks were all churned up and one could only imagine what those 850 GNFD drivers had done to torment and leave the dunes in the shape they were in. Luckily the desert is the quickest healing environment. The sun was going down slowly as the voice of our trip leader blared on the radio, " We have 7 more kilometers to go before we come to a gauge track, it was a relief to hear as you don't want to be in the middle of these awesome dunes when the lights go out. Sure 7 kilometers later we were on a gauge track and heading out. We departed the tracks at 6:30 pm.

As we inflated our tires and recalled all that we had done during the day, it was well worth the excitement we had and beyond. We had driven 106 kilometers off-road, normally we would drive anywhere between 20 - 25 kilometers on any given day. Non of us had to use the extra fuel we had carried just in case, so we filled up our tanks with the spare fuel as we knew the pumps would be full with the GNFD participants. Most of us decided to head back home as a couple of us decided to stay back for a well deserved rest and headed to Tal Moreeb where the GNFD was camping for the night. We headed back to the petrol station in Fathiya where we were the night before and it had gone quite, we just rested for a while and headed back, by the time I reached home it was almost midnight.

Today is Sunday and a whole 2 days since the drive has been concluded, but it is still fresh in my mind and I just cannot stop talking about it. The perfect get away, with a perfect plan, with the perfect people, carried out to perfection.

Tiamo Liwa.

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Wow, what a nice long detailed post, while reading I started dreaming that I was there with you guys already. Excellent way to describe your big trip and leave an awesome memory for the future. I do so many trips and never bother to write, but after reading your story may be I should learn how to do this. 

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Thank you @adil bhai. I know it is a long read, but it does take time to put yourself back to the event and pour your heart out in ink. It feels really good to receive compliments from fellow members and you really know how to appreciate someone. With at least 1 appreciation I feel that my time spent on writing the trip report was worth it. It would be brilliant if you could not only write up your trip reports, but also share with us when you are going off-road so that we may join you on one of your adventures.

Thank you once again for your kind words.

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