The morning of Friday 16th March saw the MAD Riders (Abu Dhabi) joined by DUM Riders (Dubai) for a ride to Qasr Al Sarab (an Anantara Hotel Resort developed by TDIC) in the UAE's Empty Quarter desert near Liwa.
It is impossible to say that it is an exciting ride with close to 200km's of almost dead straight desert highway most of which has a speed limit of 80km/hr and multiple speed cameras.
The reward comes when you turn off the highway to Qasr Al Sarab and ride through the sand dunes to the hotel. The inspiration for building the hotel within the dunes is obvious on the way in when all you can see is endless sand dunes off into the distance.
We were running a little late and the hotel had kept the buffet breakfast going for us as long as they could. As anticipated it was very, very tasty and filling.
Cake was added for the Birthday Boy.
After finishing breakfast celebrations at Qasr Al Sarab we headed back along the same route towards Abu Dhabi. Thankfully the speed cameras were only facing the other way allowing for some more comfortable cruising speeds.
Most of the group stopped to take in the Emirates National Auto Musuem which is a local attraction. Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan put the collection together with his personal collection of cars, trucks, 4WD and other interesting vehicles. The collection of Mercedes Benz 500SEL painted in the colours of the rainbow, complete with machine gun racks, are the trademark of the exhibition.
50 Dirhams was a small price to pay to break the otherwise monotonous ride back to Abu Dhabi.
Thanks MAD and DUM Riders for another enjoyable Friday breakfast ride.