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It'd been just a week over six months since I'd done an Intermediate drive. Travel has kept me away from the sand for the past many months but I wanted to get back out there, at the peak of it all. After the past two weeks of sickness and revelry, the opportunity finally came in the form of an Intermediate "Plus" with @GauravSoni. The fact that I even made the cut to be on this drive is pure luck since Gaurav had set very stringent conditions for those who would join him on this foray. To say I was nervous more than excited, would be an understatement. I also did myself no favours arriving very late at the meeting point the night before, just in time to say my hellos, see my lightweight chair collapse in the sand under my weight, the last embers of firewood turning grey and a furry little golden rodent giving Gaurav & @Looper ample entertainment. In some ways, I'm happy that I didn't have more time to immerse myself in Al Qua'a before my drive. The unexpected remained unknown and the way the campsite was setup, the dunes seemed distant and uncharted. It helped calm my nerves. Unlike the Liwa Crescent Crossing from February this year where we camped smack in the middle between large walls of dunes, Al Qua'a fools you into thinking that its dunes are less noteworthy. Its reputation and legacy here within @Carnity and beyond will tell you otherwise. I would never underestimate this terrain, especially not when in the company of some of the finest drivers in this club and a drive carrying a "plus" grading on the highest level. This was going to be a challenge. It is perhaps because of this reason, that even after putting down my gym mat and sleeping bag in the back of my car, with the faint red-light of my lamp illuminating the inside of the cabin that I couldn't immediately fall asleep at 2am. For thirty minutes, I just revelled in the silence, listening to my breaths finding equilibrium with the stillness of my surroundings. Soon after I fell asleep. I arose at 5am and realising that it was still dark out, and I was already at the start point, I pulled the schoolboy trick to add another hour to the mental tank. I would need it later. At 5.57am, my excited nervousness overcame any fatigue and I woke up to dress for the day. As the horizon turned violet from indigo, to pink, and back to violet, and back to pink again, the magic of the moment washed away the fear of what was to come. I can only imagine what was going through the minds of @ASAD., @Looper and @GauravSoni. Elsewhere, in the distance I could see the dusty yellow Wrangler of @Anoop Nair and the beastly looking Y61 of @Mario Cornejo arriving at the road exit. The moment was upon us. I lit up my stove, and just as the sun's golden hue began to change the horizon, my gooseneck kettle began to hiss. The boiling water and the caffeine it blended into were the perfect metaphor for what was going on within my heart - my mind was racing, the heartbeat quickening and the excitement reaching a fever pitch. With the caffeine washed down, some semolina stuffed in, the recovery gear ratcheted down and the radio brought to life, we headed out to join up the convoy. As the newest member in this terrain I was put up front and I'm thankful for it, definitely more thankful than @Anoop Nair who had to follow me. My rusty joints and slowly rebooting memory would give him a lot to anticipate. Many of his refusals came as a direct result of my being unable to keep the momentum up the warmup session. The warm up session was also the first to claim @Zixuan Huang - Charlie in a stuck on a steep slip face but amply recovered by the gents in the back. Over the radio, we heard crackles of air seeping out and this deflation would further deflate us too, but fortunately it was just a momentary issue and quickly resolved. With this minor moment behind us, we set out again, to find some of the most glorious bowls and ridges to cross over. As my confidence began to rise, I also began to experiment with my gearing. Some times I got it right, some times I got it very wrong. But I'm glad that I'm more wiser for it now. Al Qua'a required that I pull every trick, every little nugget of knowledge in my experience and every experiment I ever wanted to conduct out into the open and in direct view. There was no time to prepare - it was now and do. I however, had excellent advice from all quarters. And just as I was beginning to feel a little confident, up on top of a ridge, I slipped off to the right on a little step and I heard the loud sound of air escaping from my front right tyre. I had just gotten a pop-out. Thirty minutes of repairs later, my wheel was back on. The time it had cost the convoy was a lot more. I could see how both Gaurav's plans were falling apart as I contributed in helping them unravel. When you've had a pop-out, you tend to worry a little immediately after. You get a little more cautious. You brake a little sooner. It takes a while to lose that nagging voice to act more carefully. In a particularly tricky climb, no matter how many times I tried I could just not make it up. It reminded me of this moment many months ago from a drive with Hisham in Area 53 where no matter how hard I tried, I just could not make it over. My heart began to sink and I began to beat myself up. In moments like these, having the experience of over seventy drives, one part of you is critical for letting yourself down while the other is critical for letting down the wider convoy. Here were six other drivers who'd also driven long distances to be here and I was letting them down. It is exactly when these thoughts were making a house in my head that @GauravSoni showed up next to me. He took me up to the starting line and coached me exactly through the line and gearing required. His calm and collected advice would help me cross over, where I continued to take the incorrect line once again but his impatience (even if he was feeling it) never shown through. For this, thank you Gaurav. And thank you all. It is the sole reason why I feel so comfortable to be among people like yourselves. With these slowdowns behind us, we set off once again to the sabkha on the opposite end of where we'd started. And it is always in these final runs when you see a convoy find new pace. We were running through technical sections that were almost five times taller than the twisties of Lisailli. Such is the scale of Al Qua'a. With the afternoon sun beating down on us, we began to make our way to the exit, and this is when we realized that the excitement of the terrain had led to Gaurav not turning on his extra fan and Charlie began to hear a flapping sound from his crank. While Gaurav's issue was quickly resolved with water and time, Charlie's turned out to be a lot more serious. At the base of the bowl, we had to climb pretty high up to exit out. With a moment of hope, we set out, and the four cars in the front were racing ahead when we realized that car #5 wasn't following. At this point we stopped, and Anoop, Looper and I stopped up ahead while Gaurav raced back to diagnose the problem. I'm not sure what happened next. As we waited in silence and stared out at the vast sabkha with lime deposits and camel convoys, the radio crackled to life with a "woohoo" and we saw a tandem tug of @ASAD., @Mario Cornejo and @Zixuan Huang - Charlie emerging down the long slope of the dunes into the sabkha. It was a sight to behold. As attested by @Mario Cornejo above, it was also executed to perfection. Remember when I said that I was in the company of the finest drivers in this club. Here was proof again. I can write a lot more but I will stop here. Some of it needs to remain in my mind. But I want to thank Gaurav for being such an amazing lead. From my first "real" drive with him on Ale's full day exploit in Al Ain to now, he's maturing like a dram of the finest elixirs. His love for the outdoors coupled with his care for his convoy was on full display yesterday. Alongside, a man of numbers and deep experimentation @Looper is this steadfast rock. He is always there, always predictably good, and always the yellow beacon you need when you lose sight. Behind me, @Anoop Nair continues to boggle the mind with what he does in a stock "manual" Wrangler with 245 tyres. If ever you wanted to throw a number at eking out performance from just the barebones, you have it right here. Further afield, I saw @ASAD.in a new light on this drive. Usually, so bundled with Waqas and Vaibhav, his line, power management and control all had the moment to shine by themselves. He is such a fine driver, an even better human being and a class act. For all the troubles that @Zixuan Huang - Charlie had to bear with his engine, his adventures and mine are quite intertwined. With him in place, I shut off my rear view entirely knowing fully well that his capability in navigating any terrain will bode him over. And of course, I can't leave out @Mario Cornejo who tells the best jokes on Argentinians, has the quietest demeanour but the loudest display of driving and a car that looks like it was designed for the apocalypse. Thank you all for helping me immerse myself back into the desert, so that I too can close this year out knowing I finally did Al Qua'a. If I don't see you soon, I wish you all the warmest greetings of the season and lots of outdoors in the year to come. [ 🐵 ]

Dude im not writing a feedback in any drive you are on 😂. Well done my friend.

You are not only a fantastic Offroader but also an outstanding talented writer .. TBH I equally enjoy reading your drive debriefs as mush as I enjoy driving with you @munkybizness. Your debrief flew me 2000km to Alqua and I felt present in every second of that amazing drive.. well done. You have a beautiful talent there my friend cherish it and never slowdown in entertaining all of us with your writings.. well done @GauravSoni and everyone on this drive.. @Zixuan Huang - Charlie hope your car is recovering soon and looking forward to enjoy driving with all of you

Speechless when reading this brilliant write up…

Totally agree with this. Well done @GauravSoni and all others for managing great drive and extreme recovery, safely.

@munkybizness super amazing write up . Truth is after reading i quit doing a racce and straight forward “camp and drive “

@ASAD. - No! Please keep writing. My perspective would be incomplete without yours. There is a story unfolding in every section of the convoy. Together, our stories are fuller and richer @Frederic - Speechless is exactly how I feel in each drive under your lead 🙏 Glad to finally repay in a small way @Islam Soliman, you made my day. Your words mean that much more to me, because they're coming from you. I'm eagerly awaiting a GO TECH session when you're back

Thanks everyone for the nice drive. Attched pictures taken during the journey. See you again on the next drives........

Job done! We took off to the sand, warmed up for a while and moved on to attack ridges, bowls and steep climbs, but the desert and terrains like Al Qua'a demand concentration and attention to details. We had a fair share of fun as well as learnings in this drive, and in my opinion it is a good combination to become better at this sport we all love in this community. @GauravSoni thank you, once again, for leading a great drive. The plan you devised to rescue the car from that bowl was executed to perfection, lessons learnt: discuss with the actors, take time to plan the route, proceed to a dry run and scout of the route itself, pay attention to details, and most of all keep a positive mind. I, for one, doubted as I had seen a somewhat similar situation back in YT'21 drive, but we did it! @Looper, @ASAD. , @munkybizness, @Zixuan Huang - Charlie, @Anoop Nair, always a pleasure to meet you all and looking forward to future drives! If we don't see each other in the next couple of weeks, I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holidays and an exciting and blessed New Year 2023.

Thanks @Frederic for a lovely fun drive this morning … was a nice refreshing drive through beautiful farms (Cows in desert was surely a unique element), wet dunes and some nicely lined up camel racing tracks. It was my second drive through this route with you and not sure why but the couple of crossings through high bushes on both sides is something that always sticks with me here, just enjoy the feel of it 😀 Though we had to cut down the track a bit due to some long stoppages (tyre issue and couple of interesting stucks), the energy of the convoy and your ability to keep the tempo high ensured we all ended the drive with a smile. The whole convoy drove really well. It’s not easy adapting to fast changing terrain (and it changed quite a bit through the drive), the whole convoy managed it with elegance and style. Despite it being a long convoy the communication was smooth and reflects very positive on temperament of all the drivers. @Danish Mohammad and @Dodi Syahdar was nice catching up with you both. Thanks for your support @Mike M. brilliant second lead 👍 @lucas amat was really fun seeing you handle that jeep smoothly through the drive - no extra gas and very good control. @rohit kumar it was nice to hear your Raptor roar through the terrain . I know at certain moments we enjoy the beats from engine, however, as Fred mentioned during briefing as well, one of the key elements of off-roading is to be able to do most with min utilization of car power (can assure you will need all of it when you go ahead in levels). @Theo09 was really nice to see your vehicle in the rear view mirror - very smooth communication and handling of vehicle. Perhaps a bit more work on keeping up with convoy speed Owise you were really amazing today. Rest of convoy I didn’t have direct view but overall every one did really well. Thanks for a lovely morning out on sand.

What a great day capped with a fantastic drive. Quaa is not for the fainthearted but we had our fair share of daredevils who took up the challenge. As the terrain throws up one challenge after the other more like a video game with boss levels, you are bound get some bruises on the way. We had to deal with pop-outs, refusals, stucks, broken bumpers and finally a recovery of an almost dead car. But the most important thing in the end that we were able to come out together as safely as we went in and for that a huge credit to our lead @GauravSoni. Thanks for trusting us and giving us confidence at times (during the recovery) when even we were doubting ourselves 😅. @Looper great SL and maintaining pace at the front thats so important @munkybizness @Anoop Nair wonderful driving on your first Quaa trip, the terrain tests your vehicle to the max so selecting the right gears and shifting them at the right time becomes all the more important but i could see that once got the hang of, sailing thru those tall dunes and bowls became much more easier and fun. @Zixuan Huang - Charlie i hope that horrid sound is not what we feared it would be and the car has no major issue. Good thing is we were able to bring it out from some steep climbs. @Mario Cornejo our designated sweep as usual, think @Carnity should make this your official designation now 😂. Was a wonderful experience doing the recovery & synchronizing the power of our cars. Thank you all for your energy, teamwork and chitchat. See you soon!

@munkybizness unfortunately i had to skip this drive, but reading what you have written feels like i have been part of it... keep it up buddy

Thanks @Frederic for the nice drive, every time i do this drive it is a different experience, thanks for all the support team for keeping the convoy intact and the drive seamless, thanks everyone for making this a smooth and fun drive, really people makes a big difference in a drive.

Agreed ! Thank-you Hisham and the support team. See you soon for the next one.

Thanks @Hisham Masaad! Always on top also in more complex driving. Thanks for your great lead and for the off road experience of yesterday. Compliments as well to @Davie Chaseand @Rob Sand a warm "see you soon" to all off-road friends, old and new.

Thank you all for joining the drive, hope all enjoyed and found something new to learn. All made it on time, as soon as everyone got ready to move, had a briefing. As mentioned, most of the points are always repeated, to emphasize the importance of these points, and to remind all of us about them. started moving smoothly, and in between, started getting refusals and stucks, where we learn from. By the time reached pink rock, the area was really busy and at some stage unsafe, due to the presence of the other buggies. We then exited at the 2nd December, which was glad to see a gate to exit from that side. Very nice to meet new friends @fayez @Arsalan Ehsan @Juan R @Prasanth P @Yaseen87 all did amazing, great job. Nice to meet old friends again @essam ibrahim @Tharun Kumar V @Thejas Uthran @Bruno Finel @Mahmoud Taha. Thank you very much @MikeSpillanefor being SL, @Davie Chase for supporting us, and @Rob S for joining and supporting despite the long trip you had before the drive. Look forward to see you again in sand

The dream come true. I was the first to get stuck in just after take off. Learnt about momentum on my first drive. Thanks to everyone for your support. Enjoyable drive and the most important is the First Lady said it was very safe and I can continue to drive 😂😅. Looking forward for the next drive.

Thank you @Hisham Masaad for the excellent drive, it was as you say a great learning experience. I hope all the other club members enjoyed it and learnt as much as I did. it was great to see so many families out with us in the true spirit of Carnity The convoy drove exceptionally well so a big thanks to @fayez @Arsalan Ehsan @Juan R @Prasanth P @Yaseen87@essam ibrahim @Tharun Kumar V @Thejas Uthran @Bruno Finel @Mahmoud Taha you guys made the support teams job so much easier. A big thank you to @MikeSpillanefor being SL you did an awesome job of following Hishams instructions to move the convoy left and right where necessary and keep us all on the right track. A big shout out to @Rob S for joining us after a long flight, gave us a great sense of comfort having you at the back sweeping. Ignore the max speed below as that was operator error as i did not stop the recording until i was on the highway Look forward to seeing you again in sand