Back in October 2018 I finally had a chance to go dune bashing in the desert in Doha, Qatar. After visiting Doha for around 2 years, it was great to get round to doing it after so many recommendations from friends. We got picked up by our driver around 2/3 pm and we headed our way to the desert. On the way there, through the tinted windows of the Land Cruiser, the sky looked so colourful. I spotted some power lines come up, so while moving at about 90km/h I shot the first two shots below. Not bad for being in a moving car I thought. Before going in the dunes we stopped off where they let the air out the tyres. The place was kind of a waiting area camp with toilets, camel rides and a guy with a falcon. After watching a lady face plant previously in Australia from a camel, let’s just say I wasn’t that fussed on getting a short ride from one. I did, however, have a wonder and took a few snaps as they were laying down. The falcon was pretty cool, asking the man why they have a mask on, it’s so they don’t see some prey and fly off. The man was kind enough to have some photos taken of him with the bird.

It was about time we got back into the Land Cruiser. Heading out I didn’t really know what to expect. The further we got out the bigger the dunes got. Now some credit has to be given to these drivers, they have some unreal control when then are bombing down these dunes fast and drifting over edges. It was amazing. We stopped off at two points, on near a massive drop where I guess a dried-up lake was. This where we watched the sunset. And then by the coastline. Somewhere close to Saudi as my phone picked up a Saudi provider. It was already dark by this point. Using the light from the car’s headlights and brake lights we took so photos of the drivers. Driving back was a party, music full blast, flashing headlights and racing back to the air pump to pump the tyres back up. Safe to say it was a fun experience I never really thought would happen.

-Charlie Bluck