Dune Bashing with the Kallianpur's

There's a pastime here in Qatar called Dune Bashing, which is exactly what it sounds like it would be. Driving 4 wheel drive vehicles recklessly across the desert, up and down dunes, and across the flats, all at high speed. And yes, it is as fun as it sounds. Many of the dunes are at least 10 stories tall, and very steep. Hank is gonna absolutely love it - better in some ways than roller-coasters maybe. Thibodeaux invited me along on a family trip to bash, and of course I went along. It was a blast. But hard to get photos of just what it's like, so instead I'm posting shots of Thibs and his really wonderful family. Unfortunately his bride Corrinne is back in Louisiana right now - though I feel like I know her. Her kids are a direct reflection that she is a wonderful lady (Lord knows that can't be Ravi's doing). Below is yours truly with Ravi (Thibodeaux), his son Neill (who's high school graduation I recently attended) and his daughter Naina. It's her fault there were no good action shots (I'm kidding Naina, don't be mad).

This is Prakash (who's name I am almost certainly misspelling), Ravi's rather elusive brother. In going through the pictures of the trip there are like 100 pics and he's in 2. Very wily that one. I'm pleased that I will get to meet his family, who hopefully (Ensha Allah) will come for a visit in July.

Yours truly with Gazi, our guide and driver. He was a riot.

And this is Ravi trying to throw me down a very high and very steep sand dune. Smarty Pants damn near sent us both sliding down the face (grin).

In the distance is the inland sea, as they call it. It's a thin strip of gulf that seperates a long bit of the border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. There were several times we could look across and see Saudi. This piece of the desert is very pretty. Like some of my favorite places in Texas, the beauty and the harshness are inseperable elements.