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This week decided to step it up a bit and venture of into new terrain. Sweihan, it lies approximately in the middle of Dubai, Abudhabi and Al Ain. If your in the center of Sweihan all three cities are equal distance from it.

Its one of the places I've never been to but been amazed by the stories and pics by the people who have. Spent a whole day plotting out the route from sat maps and once ready took along two other tight desert drivers with me and headed off into the unkown.

The terrain there is absloutely amazing. Its literally like a sand mountain range with dunes easily touching 275 to 300 mtrs ! Without a doubt was the best trip ever.

Although pictures speak a thousand words but still they really cannot capture the sheer beauty, vastness and true essence of Sweihan.

Big Red ready to take off



A few vistas captured in a hurry while driving along









A little swinging about the dunes



Big Red on a ..well on a Big Red Dune



A little drive by



One of my mates enjoying the dunes



A little top of the dune sideway action

























After some goofing around back to bussiness





On top of the highest visible peak doesn't look too high in the pics but trust me( GPS showing 275mtrs )





On the Top most ridge



The Dark Stallion



And as always to hone your desert driving skills and be able to conquer dunes like these log into www.emarat4x4.com and AS ALWAYS its absolutely free !

Cheers

YeeHaaa...

Great setting as always !!!

Well atleast someone appriciates them.

Thanks G

desertdudeshj wrote:Well atleast someone appriciates them.

Thanks G

Good photoes, keep em coming.

+1
Great photos and seems like an awesome time.

How do you manage to add photos to your posts?

hahaha awesome pics. Looks like alot of fun def needa try it when i'm there.

Great places. Wish my 4WD powerful enough to go there.

PS: try to resize the photo (smaller) for faster download/opening. MS Paint will do, if you don't have Photoshop.

Chocoholic wrote:How do you manage to add photos to your posts?

upload them to photobucket.com and link them here, you forum noob.

xty wrote:Great places. Wish my 4WD powerful enough to go there.

PS: try to resize the photo (smaller) for faster download/opening. MS Paint will do, if you don't have Photoshop.

what do you drive xty??? if its a 4x4 (not an all-wheel drive SUV) then you shouldn't have major issues driving through the desert even if you drive a V4 4x4

Was Tucson V6 2.7L (mine, sold)
Now Tucson 2.0L (friend's who left for good abandoning the car)

Though it has sports mode gear and automatic 4WD locking, but it's not really powerful for deep sands like on the picture (in the middle of nowhere, just for taking photographs of sand dunes with no footsteps nor tyre tracks). Got stuck once at the red dune and never want to try again

I think minimum 3.5L or 4.0L will do, especially the one with low gear.
Or probably rent a quadbike

Chocoholic wrote:How do you manage to add photos to your posts?

Like GT said, upload to free web (or your own web) that can host images AND allow you to get the direct link (URL/address) to that image like tinypic.com, imageshack.us, photobucket.com

The rest is : Can I post Images? http://dubaiforums.com/faq.php#24

Great Pictures - Thanks desertdudeshj.

xty wrote:Was Tucson V6 2.7L (mine, sold)
Now Tucson 2.0L (friend's who left for good abandoning the car)

Though it has sports mode gear and automatic 4WD locking, but it's not really powerful for deep sands like on the picture (in the middle of nowhere, just for taking photographs of sand dunes with no footsteps nor tyre tracks). Got stuck once at the red dune and never want to try again

I think minimum 3.5L or 4.0L will do, especially the one with low gear.
Or probably rent a quadbike

we used to have a 1999 Mitusbish Pajero v4 2.0 (2-door) manual gear... and we used to enjoy dune bashing in it... off course it wouldn't go up on heavy inclines but it was doing perfectly in deep sands.

I dont know about your Tucson... does it have the Low-4x4-Gear? if so then you shouldn't really worry

I think manual gear is a different story
There's no low gear on Tucson (automatic) other than D-1-2 gears, 4WD switch (with automatic locking & distribution), and +- sports mode overriding D (which I feel it doesn't help much either).

But I think I'll give it a try someday. I think it'd be easier when the sands get a bit thick/condensed after last week's full of rain.

xty wrote:I think manual gear is a different story
There's no low gear on Tucson (automatic) other than D-1-2 gears, 4WD switch (with automatic locking & distribution), and +- sports mode overriding D (which I feel it doesn't help much either).

But I think I'll give it a try someday. I think it'd be easier when the sands get a bit thick/condensed after last week's full of rain.

If you don't have a low-4w gear option then as you mentioned... you will not have any chance driving on those sand dunes...

that's what i was saying

Chocoholic wrote:How do you manage to add photos to your posts?

Being the modand over 7000 posts in I thought you would be hip to these kind of things. As said before I will just elaborate. Upload your pics to sites like imageshack or photobucket and there will be a img link there just cut n paste it here. All Phpnuke forums support this I think

For eg:- it should look something like this [img]your%20image%20link[/img]

And thanks guys will keep on posting more as more trips happen. And for people who have never been to the desert you guys are literally missing the best part of what this country has to offer.

XTY..your tucson should be fine. I always say its not the car its the driver. I have travelled almost everywhere in an 88 4 banger pathfinder and that too with a petrol leak and slipping clutch. We have among us a 2.7 4 pot Prado driven by one of our senior members who has gone even to places like Liwa ( The empty quarter ) with it and a lady you has a AWD 4 pot mid 90's Rav4 and she's buzzing about everywhere. I myself drive a old battered 98 Discovery a car which is so looked down upon
"real offroaders " and they say it is so heavy it wont move a inch on loose sand but as you can see I take it everywhere and then some !

desertdude, thanks for the encouragement. i'll give it a try again.

gtmash wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:How do you manage to add photos to your posts?

upload them to photobucket.com and link them here, you forum noob.

hell she is old , hughty and naughty.....

desert surfer wrote:

gtmash wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:How do you manage to add photos to your posts?

upload them to photobucket.com and link them here, you forum noob.

hell she is old , hughty and naughty.....

i thought u were talking about ur car there

very nice pix, i'd really love to join you guys sometimes

nice, i see lots of sand there. what a beautiful place.

xero_ wrote:nice, i see lots of sand there. what a beautiful place.

got to agree. looks like an awsome place. where is this? can u google earth it and send me the exact location? any tips for driving in the desert? got a 4 wheeler but scared to go to the desert because my clutch might efff up.

rudeboy wrote:

xero_ wrote:nice, i see lots of sand there. what a beautiful place.

got to agree. looks like an awsome place. where is this? can u google earth it and send me the exact location? any tips for driving in the desert? got a 4 wheeler but scared to go to the desert because my clutch might efff up.

It's not much fun if you get stuck alone.

i know its better to get stuck with 2 3 cars. then u have to spend hours taking it out



i want to go but dont want to risk taking my 4x4. i ll have to invest into a jeep and declare it as a new hobby

what happens if u crash? like coming down the dune and bang u roll ur car????

what about flash floods?

Emarate wrote:very nice pix, i'd really love to join you guys sometimes

Well register at www.emarat4x4.com and your free to join anytrips of your skill level from Absolute beginer to Advanced.

rudeboy wrote:

xero_ wrote:nice, i see lots of sand there. what a beautiful place.

got to agree. looks like an awsome place. where is this? can u google earth it and send me the exact location? any tips for driving in the desert? got a 4 wheeler but scared to go to the desert because my clutch might efff up.

This is Sweihan a hidden treasure with high majestic dunes. Its approximately triangulates in the middle of Dubai, Alain and Abu Dhabi.

Not a good idea to be going out to such a extreme place on your own. Don't worry about effing your clutch with proper guidance you'll learn how to learn your 4x4 for the true purpose it was built for and not mall crawlling.


As always register at www.emarat4x4.com and get busy..Guys I'm not spamming or looking for more members we are already 500 members strong and a very active offroad comminuty but hey the more the merrier.

rudeboy wrote:i know its better to get stuck with 2 3 cars. then u have to spend hours taking it out



i want to go but dont want to risk taking my 4x4. i ll have to invest into a jeep and declare it as a new hobby

what happens if u crash? like coming down the dune and bang u roll ur car????

what about flash floods?

Thats one thing I can gurantee you if you step off road. No matter for the first time or the thousandth YOU WILL GET STUCK and that is all part of the game. Majority of the stucks you can recover youself in a matter of minutes with minimal or no digging at all if you know the right technique. Other might need a gentle pull from another 4x4.

As for flash flood. The threat is a very real and dangerous but only in the mountains and wadis. Desert at worst can turn into mud in some places. But usually during or after the rains the sand compact and becomes almost tarmac like and you can climb the highest dune which under normal circumstances you would'nt even dream of .

Also as with any extreme sport there is an element of risk involved aswell. The danger of rolling over is always present specially if your stuck sideways and at a sharp angle. But if you have a team of experienced offroaders with you who know what they are doing and you follow their instructions to the word. You we be back of flat and solid ground in no time.

Many people venture out into the desert on their own with little or no experince and end up having a bad experience like getting stuck or damagung their car and that puts them off offroading for ever. But if you go out with an experienced group who can guide you through the intial stages until your confident of your desert driving ablities you will soon be addicted to the desert and won't be able to wait until the weekend when you can hit the dunes again.

@ rudeboy yes its a good idea to invest in a cheap 2nd 4x4 as a dedicated toy as even of you scratch it or put a small dent in ti you wont care or will cost you big money to repair your newish family 4x4

BTW what 4x4 do you have ?

desertdudeshj wrote:

rudeboy wrote:i know its better to get stuck with 2 3 cars. then u have to spend hours taking it out



i want to go but dont want to risk taking my 4x4. i ll have to invest into a jeep and declare it as a new hobby

what happens if u crash? like coming down the dune and bang u roll ur car????

what about flash floods?

Thats one thing I can gurantee you if you step off road. No matter for the first time or the thousandth YOU WILL GET STUCK and that is all part of the game. Majority of the stucks you can recover youself in a matter of minutes with minimal or no digging at all if you know the right technique. Other might need a gentle pull from another 4x4.

As for flash flood. The threat is a very real and dangerous but only in the mountains and wadis. Desert at worst can turn into mud in some places. But usually during or after the rains the sand compact and becomes almost tarmac like and you can climb the highest dune which under normal circumstances you would'nt even dream of .

Also as with any extreme sport there is an element of risk involved aswell. The danger of rolling over is always present specially if your stuck sideways and at a sharp angle. But if you have a team of experienced offroaders with you who know what they are doing and you follow their instructions to the word. You we be back of flat and solid ground in no time.

Many people venture out into the desert on their own with little or no experince and end up having a bad experience like getting stuck or damagung their car and that puts them off offroading for ever. But if you go out with an experienced group who can guide you through the intial stages until your confident of your desert driving ablities you will soon be addicted to the desert and won't be able to wait until the weekend when you can hit the dunes again.

@ rudeboy yes its a good idea to invest in a cheap 2nd 4x4 as a dedicated toy as even of you scratch it or put a small dent in ti you wont care or will cost you big money to repair your newish family 4x4

BTW what 4x4 do you have ?

a "batrol" but not gonna risk taking that in the desert. but thanks for the advice. do you know if there are any schools or courses where someone can learn how to drive in the desert? or classes on how to navigate in the desert etc etc. cos that is something i might be interested in.