It was a cloudless Friday morning between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi. The meeting time at the assembly point was at 5:30AM. This adventure was a recently claimed Christmas Dreamdays gift from my hubby. The balloon flight was organized and operated by Balloon Adventures Emirates.
Our friendly pilot was Captain Peter Kollar and he took us up in the air at 4,000 ft. I watched the sunrise . The sun rose steadily and the beauty seen from an aerial view is always priceless! The tranquility above the sand dunes in between pauses of hot air gushing forth was intoxicating. I was fortunate to have a nice spot at the corner of the basket as it turned 360 degrees with a beautiful view of gazelles and camels at the dunes.
When we landed, we briefly gathered for some refreshments. We drove all the way to the main city afterwards. Running low on petrol along an unfamiliar highway in the middle of the desert. After 80 kilometers without a gas station, the hubby was already getting ready to hitch hike when the tank was close to being empty, hitting a 2 km mark on the dashboard. I was preparing myself for the worst and we were driving slowly without any sign of landmark nor buildings anywhere. As the last warning signal in the vehicle beeped, a gas station appears from a distance, like a mirage! We reached it just when we hit zero. We were so lucky!
That was a great way to start my 2012 weekend.
Next week..Para-sailing!
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