I don't post here very often & haven't been online here for a while due to bandwidth problems associated with shipboard life. I stopped by tonight to post up my Land Cruiser story & photos, and also to hopefully find a new head unit recommendation for our 01 since it stopped playing CD's 2 days ago. I've always hated the stereo in our truck & have had problems with it since we bought it.
Last week the ship I'm stationed on stopped in Jebel Ali (United Arab Emirates) for a 6 day visit. We were allowed to leave the area to visit, including nearby Dubai. If you've never been to or heard of Dubai, it is an amazing city. The majority of the city is relatively new with at least 100 construction projects going on within the outskirts of the city. There is a lot of money here also. Outside of Emirates Mall (
www.malloftheemirates.com/ )(the largest mall outside the U.S.) Lambos, Ferraris and Mercedes are common sights. I saw 4 new BMW M5s while I was here, in the states I haven't seen 1 yet. Attached to the mall is an indoor ski resort. Outside the temperature is about 90 degrees F, but inside the ski resort it is 1 deg. C.
www.skidubai.com We went skiing last Saturday morning & it was a lot of fun. $40 gets you skis, poles, boots, winter jacket & ski pants, plus 2 full hours of ski time once you enter the park.
Anyway, on to the Land Cruiser related story. On Wed I took an evening desert safari trip with 2 of my friends.
Our tour group consisted of a fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers with aftermarket suspensions, inline 6 cyl engines, manual tranny & roll cages.
We weren't driving, but riding. The drivers have to go to an advanced desert driving school & their licenses are renewed annually. Our driver was originally from Pakistan & he could drive like you wouldn't believe.
Our driver:
The drivers took advantage whenever they could to practice desert drifting at about 50mph.
Kicking up some serious sand!
This shot gives you an idea of how steep some of the dunes would drop off. We peaked the tops of some & got both front wheels off the ground. These guys were beating the trucks as hard as they could.
After about an hour or hard driving, we arrived for our barbecue. They had a bunch of tents set up with various things to do. We snowboarded down the sand dune, rented atv's & rode on some of the dunes, rode a camel and ate a lot of local food. Shish-kebobs, pasta, salad, hummus, fresh-made flat bread and rice. Topped it off with a shot of Johnny Walker Red.
Me getting a henna tattoo
My buddy Justin smoking
Justin & me with our camel
(L-R) My friend Earl, me & Justin
I've seen and done a lot since I've been in the Navy, but this was by far the best trip I've ever had. Our driver was drifting sideways on the side of the sand dunes. We even did some side-by-side drifting with another Land Cruiser on top of one of the dunes. I shot a bunch of video that I still need to download & edit. I won't be able to put it online until this summer when I finally get back home.
Hope you enjoyed the photos.
-Todd
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