The Inland Sea and Messaid Punturey

The last big adventure before Geoff goes back happened today - a trip through the desert to Khor al Adaid, otherwise known as the Inland Sea. The Inland Sea is the southernmost point of Qatar and borders Saudi Arabia. It is a shallow tidal lake joined to the sea by a narrow channel and surrounded by dramatic crescent-shaped sand dunes. We booked through a company called Gulf Adventures and had the best fun all day.

We met our tour guide, Abdul, at a local shopping mall where he picked us up in a Toyota Landcruiser. He's a most interesting character, born and raised in San Diego, USA. His father is Palestinian and his mother, Filipina. He is working here with his uncle, who manages Gulf Adventures. He has a shaved head, a long goatee, an infectious laugh and a completely laid-back approach to life.

He drove us down to Messaid where we had been quad bike riding only a couple of days ago. We met up with another group on the trip and as Abdul let some air out of the tyres in preparation for driving in the sand dunes, managed to grab a quick camel ride. There were hundreds of other 4WDs there, driving with abandon.

The ride through the dunes was simultaneously beautiful and adrenaline-filled; a roller coaster ride through a stark sculptured landscape. There were tyre marks on every part of every dune initially, but as we moved further south we moved out of the traffic. At one point we got stuck and the vehicle had to be dug out. Some guys turned up to help. When the vehicle was finally free and we were on our way again we asked who they were. "Oh, that's the manager of the company", said Abdul, "and also my uncle. I'm going to be singing the blues tomorrow!"

We arrived at the Khor al Adaid at sunset. The sun looked like a tangerine. As it sank towards the sea it turned pastel through the dust haze and slid imperceptibly past the horizon. We looked towards the Saudi border as darkness crept up on us.

We went back for dinner to a camp they have permanently set up. We sat on bedouin cushions in carpeted tents, then ate arabic food outside while a sea breeze cooled us and made the flares that lit the table flicker.

As we drove back to Doha, we stopped at Messaid to put some air back in the tyres. I noticed a most interesting kind of shop I had never seen before called Messaid Punturey. A tyre shop. "What's that?" I asked Abdul. "They will fix your flat tyres", he told me. I wish I'd known about Punturey shops last week. It would have saved me a lot of trouble when I needed my tyre repaired.