Page 28 - RISE-MARCH 2021

UNSEEN UAE

Collect moments, not things
create more memories With a downloaded app we could identify the constella-
Travelogue tions, the planet and even the Milky Way! Watching the
spectacular arch of the Milky Way rising over the horizon
Being locked up at home since the outbreak of Covid 19 was like a like a scene of science fiction.
in March 2020,It was October and my family and I were
eagerly waiting to travel in the open , but to a safe place ,
when my daughter suggested –Al Qua , a place where we
can star gaze and not very crowded, we thought ..why not?

So with a friend of ours we set our Google map to Al Qua
and off we started. The distance is exactly 130 km from
Abu Dhabi city

We started at around 6.00 pm, and reaching deep in Al
Razeen desert, it’s easy enough to get to – you don’t need
a 4x4, but there are no lights …it is dark…PITCH DARK

surrounded by sweeping dunes
and a couple of trees, there’s It was very chilly and since we weren’t prepared …
zero light pollution, we got a lit- we stayed for some more time and left with a
tle scared since it was stretches heavy heart promising ourselves to come back
of darkness, pin drop silence and again
nothing but the dunes, but,
knowing that our friend was with And we were lucky enough, after 2 weeks it was
us in the other car kept us mov- told that there would be showers of shooting

ing forward. We finally reached our spot, as per Google stars in the sky . Excitement crept in, we made an elabo-
“aunt’s” instruction rate plan, many more of our friends got excited and want-
ed to explore too. So with food, water, mats, warm clothes
Wondering what next… we saw a gate which opened up as we set out again.
we reached near it, Inside the gate the road wasn’t paved
… we drove in some more , a couple of vehicles were seen Reached our destination, this time there were many more

parked in some places. We stopped, parked and I happen visitors, families camping, with tents, music, and food
to glance skywards!!!! I griped my sons arm, He looked up... etc….the gorgeous dunes, the swath of stars cut against
A word of exclamation escaped his mouth…and everyone the sky that your breath is bound to catch. With very little
looked up.. The sky looks like a carpet of fireflies! Stars to no light pollution whatsoever, you can gaze at all those
and stars…. Not a spot empty in the sky. It was like fire-
works in this
velvet dark, like
millions and tril-
lions of dia-
monds flung in

the sky

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