ramadan kareem

Eid Mubarak! (Blessed Festival!)

This marks the end of Ramadan and in muslim countries, this signals a very big celebration. (this can be juxtaposed with our Christmas celebration). For us who belong to the private sector, we had 2 days off from work as opposed to a week-long holiday for government employees.

I was only thinking of spending the holidays at home studying, which also means spending less. :-) But alas, I got this very tempting invite to go to the middle of the desert, somewhere between there and nowhere, off-roading with the pinoy 4-wheelers, camping at night, etc... so I went.

I went with Ferds and his 4wd, with a couple more of other friends. Much of the pre-desert experience is a build up of my anticipation.

Then we have arrived at the entrance. We de-pressurised the Sorento's tires, and we set off. It surprised me alot to find Ferds very fearless in jumping the dunes. (I'll let Ferds tell this part of the story). Apart from the stomach churning ride which i immensely enjoyed (definitely with much fear factor than rides in magic mountain), the whole desert experience was... magical.

It must have been the extremity of the environment, its distinct characteristic very much alien to the environment that im habituated to, the sunset's elements just the sky, the sand dunes and the vermilion sun, its plainness extraordinary, maybe too much for me to handle. i was left stupefied, and enchanted. it is like falling in love again for the first time.

ok, that was too cheesy but what the heck, it was really a fantastic experience.

and while i thought that was it, it was just beginning, drinks were pouring (well, not literally, but there was enough for everybody), lechon (roast pig) was served hot off the coals. i myself did some barbeque for my tribe with some sand toppings. you cant ignore the sand there that easily. we also had nostalgic music thanks to the advent of mp3 players.

when we have had the last drop from our bottles, we did some star-gazing and counted falling stars. I might be the least affected by the alcohol since i was able to keep my eyes wide open and counted the most stars. I kept a keen eye on all those stars because they're so nice they remind me of someone very special.

Again, magical as the whole experience is, waking up with the sun in your eyes with just sand everywhere is something new. Surprisingly, I woke up very early, at about 5:30am as opposed to my usual 8-9 hour sleeping time. Must have been my survival instincts telling me to get ready and take profit of the dawn of life.

As we headed home, we found a pack of camels (not the one which gives you lung cancer) wandering about the highway. We didnt let that moment pass without having a photo op. And it seems they're so used to see tourists that they stopped as we had them frozen (how ironic) in time.

that desert is one of my latest additions to my places to go with my loved one.

some fantastic photos coming soon.

Nuff said. :-)