I sail. Through the crests and the troughs.

We are on to the last part of our deployment today. We are leaving harbour soon as i type this entry. Soon we will be on watch again. Alot of things have happened since the start of our deployment, but i'm just gonna let things go and begin anew. I'm not hoping for time to pass quickly, i'm just hoping i can experience everything fully. Soon, we will be heading home, soon...

The Desert Tour.

After bumming around in the Middle East, land of the rich Arabic cultures, i could hardly have missed out on the desert tour. If you were expecting the mystic stuff and tents and desert trekking and everything else you see in pictures, you couldn't be more wrong. But the real thing was close enough, most importantly, REAL enough.

We arrived around early evening, so we could escape the afternoon blaze and the scorching sandstorms, we visited a camel farm sort of, which consisted of nothing more than a few run down shacks and animal pens. The whole place stank of animal excrement, you couldnt walk and NOT step on anything. Cam-whoring sessions begin.

The sun begins to set and it casts a golden hue upon the crested dunes. The desert is like a sea of sand, the dunes like endless waves upon the endless desert, the dune peaks catch the light of the setting sun and casts them across the desert. The desert shimmers.

Soon we were boarding our 4 wheeled drives and we proceed for dune-bashing. Which is like having a roller coaster ride among the dunes. Oh the yelling. I couldnt say more. The sun glows red, settle atop a high dune to catch the sunset. Cam-whoring, yet again. We collected some sand for souvenirs, then proceeded to the desert encampment for dinner.

There was camel riding available, but i didnt ride. Those poor beasts look so miserable and they were whining and making all sorts of noises after being made to repeatedly stand and kneel to ferry people. One gave a particularly loud noise when one of the horizontally challenged tourists mounted it, albeit with much difficulty, and grunting.

Dinner was arabic buffet and bbq meats, all spread out on carpets laid on the sand, with firm cushions and a low tablet. I can't decide if i wanted to sit on the carpet or the sand, except that the sand had the tendency to get into nasty places. There was booze and some furious belly dancing, culminating with most of us dancing on the stage with her. And that was that.

Now. 1838H 19.11.08

Just had a very spicy dinner. We are sailing towards our area of ops again. Can't exactly put what i'm feeling into words. But suffice to say it's a large spectrum from the worst to the best. I just hope i don't swing around too much. Now, i'll just let the days flow me by.