The sick bags stuffed into the back of the seat in front indicate this isn't going to be the smoothest of journeys. We're not in an aeroplane, we're in an off-roader and about to do what the locals call 'dune bashing' - driving at high speed across the undulating and constantly changing terrain.
Abu Salaf is a stretch of desert about 50 kilometres south east of Abu Dhabi, whose Yas Marina circuit is as flat and smooth as asphalt gets. Not so here, where waves of sand rise up to obscure the horizon.
We turn off the main trunk road, through a gate and off-piste. Rubbish lines the perimeter fencing, but as we enter and cross the dunes the litter becomes camel bones, found in occasional clumps, licked clean by the birds overhead.
Our car is a Chevrolet Tahoe, and the only special features are reinforced fenders and increased ride height; there are no harnesses, and no roll cage. Inside it's standard. Fouad Saimouah has been taking tourists dune bashing for 21 years, and before that was a night shift storekeeper on the oil fields. He learned to off-road there, and when he got stuck he would have to wait until the sun came up before he could dig himself out.
We stop to deflate the tyres. Seventeen psi is the required pressure. Too much air and the wheels will spin, losing grip and endangering the clutch.
As we set off again, Fouad hands me a laminated safety card. Apart from the need for seat belts to be fastened, the main advice is not to take photos of military or petroleum facilities, or local ladies.
As the 4x4 snakes across and over the dunes, the sensation is similar to skiing. And even more than snow, the fine surface changes constantly, shaped by the wind. It's treacherous for the driver, as he has no way of knowing what lies beyond each crest.
Eyes fixed ahead, you can't see the sand thunder from the Tahoe's rear, but you can feel it shooting under the floor as the front wheels scramble.
Fouad gracefully slides the Tahoe down one dune but, over the next, points the nose downhill. The suspension crashes in the dip as the V8 powers us uphill and airborne over the rise. It lands on the side of a 45 degree dune and it feels like we're about tip. Fouad steers into the turn, hits the gas, and the crisis is averted.
He claims to have never rolled. "My passengers always ask me about that, because it almost happens everyday."
In fact it almost happened several more times that day, and all I could do was marvel at the storeman behind the wheel.
With thanks to Arabian Adventures: www.arabian-adventures.com / +917 2 691 1711
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