The location for this resort is about 2 hours into the desert in what they call "The Empty Quarter" - for good reason, there is nothing there! Just sand! So the resort is an engineering feat in itself. The road leading to the resort is still unmade and I was a bit worried at times whether my VW Passat was going to make it - it's in situations like this that I miss my 4x4.
The dunes are pretty spectacular and the silence when the labourers stopped work for lunch was deafening. I reckon at night under a full moon, it would look great.
They are going to offer traditional Arab hunting on camel back with Saluki dogs and Falcons - hunting gazelle etc placed in a reserve for this purpose. This will of course cost an arm and a leg, but there will be plenty of Arabs (and others probably) who will be queuing up for this I'm sure.
I had a classic conversation trying to buy a drink at a small grocery store in Al Hameem, the nearest town to the resort. It went like this...
{Looking in the fridge being watched by the Indian shopkeeper, and seeing only a vitimin C drink and Red Bull}
Me: Do you have any other cold drinks?
Shopkeeper: You want chocolate?
Me: {grabbing 2 Red Bulls} Never mind I'll just take these.
Shopkeeper: You want diet?
Me: {happy becuase I usually drink diet Red Bull}
Shopkeeper: No.
Me: I guess I'll just take these then.
Photos from Qasr al Sarab below.....
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| Meeting at Qasr al Sarab |
