Desert Invasion

As we know the Middle East is a land of desert and Saudi Arabia has magnificent sand dunes that you may enjoy. On the outskirts of Riyadh, you will see them in different colors such as mixed with red and orange. Red Sand is also famous place where locals and expat have visited for having a picnic. Quad bikes can be found for rent for drives up on the sand hills.



Last Wednesday (start of our HAJ holiday), we’re all ready to invade the famous Filipino desert destinations – the Red Sand and Hidden Valley. The plan is to go quadbiking in the morning, trail the sand dune and then on to a place called Hidden Valley for a picnic.



The last time I went quadbiking I was a bit nervous about how they'd get on that time, so spent most of my time watching them and taking photos. This time however, all of us are seasoned quadbikers, so we spent the whole hour whizzing up and down the sand dunes at top speed.

After the hour was up and we'd paid the Bedouin for the bike rental, our company coaster headed further south towards hidden valley, which I was able to find easily since I’ve been in this place several times. About 10 minutes past the quadbiking area there's a left turn which is a dirt trail - like last time - but there's actually a tarmac road which leads on for another couple of k's before turning to dirt.

The narrow trail is very rocky and twists from left to right. At almost every turn there's what is either a large bush or a small tree.



After what seems like an hour of this but was probably only about 15 minutes, we arrive at our destination. We're in a valley alright, surrounded on all sides by high slopes of very rough, sharp, rocky terrain. We pile out of the car and the area is a blur of setup activity; Each of us (we’re 28 all) carrying our food, water jug, cameras, tents, etc. and went further inside the valley. Before we even know, we are almost at the top of what looks to me like a pretty dangerous climb.

Despite the rocky terrain this is a very nice place for a social gathering. The weather was great and the scenery was spectacular.

So, in almost five hours we've quadbiked, set our footprints in red sands, had our picnic in a rocky hill and climbed mountains.