bedouin musings - journey from dobuy to abu dhaba

• dubai to abu dhabi 2 hours. abu dhabi to dubai 90 minutes. or does it seem that way to a homesick dubai fellagha...?
• the pleasure of driving along the expressway cannot be expressed in mere words. since we don't do poetry or other art forms, we shall have to let it pass. but the senses tingle...!
• dhabas needed en route. not mallu garbageterias. alu paratha better than malnese (mallu chinese).
• 2 maseratis, 7 lexus, 9 mercs and assorted minor autoroyalty along the way. we in our crv were like the royal elephant
• fm helps. own music helps more. the beatles, cliff richard, dire straits (no reference to the road), hotel california (on a dark desert highway is quite appropriate), the doors, bob dylan. also shiv kumar sharma, hari prasad chaurasia, nusrat, rahat and hariharan
• good company good. own company tolerable.

bonne conduite!

dobuy driving travails

we have been considering posting on the travails that gentlefolk go through in getting a driving license in dobuy. put it off till the piece o'plastic was safely in our wallet. now that it is, and we are wheeled (as it were), here goes:

1. driving schools in dobuy are a means to sponsor bollywood fraternal visits. fees for every little thing, which are thrown at one like pellets from an air rifle.

2. most instructors are from around the khyber pass and wouldnt recognise a metalled road if it hit them (or vice versa).

3. most training cars are nissan sunnys. which is like learning about sex from mills and boon.

4. no trainees are allowed on SZR. imagine the terror of a freshly blooded driver when he sets wheels onto this road and finds 6 lanes of sheer frenzy. statistically the maximum accidents in dobuy are on this road, caused by 1st timers crouched under the dashboard in utter panic.

5. 30 minute classes are of no use.

6. inspectors annotate the driving test sheet in arabic. getting someone to translate and then understand what "you drive loose" means is ulcer-inducing.

7. most driving schools are manned by folk from a certain island nation of south-east asia whose name is similar to that of the king-consort of england. these folks labour under an average iq of 2 and deserve to be flattened further.

more later. keep driving.