Liwa Trip - Tal Mireb

Date: 13 Mar 2009

We made a trip to Liwa again on Friday and visited the Tal Mireb or Tal Moreeb (The biggest sand dune in the UAE).

The Liwa Oasis is a gateway to the deep sands of the legendary Empty Quarter and is known as the playground for 4x4 dune bashing. Dune bashing is an increasingly popular activity, which involves tourists being driven out into the surrounding desert in a 4X4 and driving up and down the sand dunes.

The Empty Quarter is 1200 km long and 650 km wide, and is among the largest continuous deserts in the world. About 80 percent of this area is in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and covers about a quarter of the Kingdom’s land surface. Its eastern edges extend into the United Arab Emirates, and its southern margin is in the Sultanate of Oman. Parts of its southern and southwestern limits are in the Republic of Yemen.

Moreeb Hill (Al Moreb Hill)is the place for organized drag races. With a reported 50 degree slipface, and a 300m long hill climb, it is a perfect place for sand drags. Moreeb Hill is one of the largest hill climbs in the world. It is also known as Tel Moreeb or "Scary Mountain".

Beautiful dunes



The sand dune hill - Tal Moreeb
with a huge campsite set up for
the Liwa Festival, which will feature
camel races, horse races,
car races, falcon races, etc


Sheep, horse, camels & thier babies

Liwa Trip - Liwa Hotel, Palace

Date: 6 Mar 2009

Finally we reach Liwa

Liwa Rest House & shops

Liwa Hotel
A four star hotel overlooks the natural fertile oasis
in the Rub Al Khali desert also known as The Empty Quarter,
surrounded by some of the highest dunes in the world.

Sheikh Zayed’s palace
belong to the belated former President of the UAE,
Sheikh Zayed, who died in 2004

Lots of greenery

We took a different route back to Abu Dhabi
the Madinat Zayed route
a sleepy little town

Liwa Trip - Sand, Date Palms & Camels

Date: 6 Mar 2009

After visiting The Sheikh's Car Museum
we continue our journey to Liwa
and on the way we will also passby small town
call "Hameem"/"Hmeem" and "Mizaira'a"

Road to Liwa
It is very windy and
can see sand flying everywhere

nothing much to see here
sand, date palms & other trees along the road
the only petrol staion at Hameem
we were lucky on that day
we saw a herd of camels
The camels here are almost black and
these specimens looked very, very skinny too.
going to Mizaira'a now

Here you can really see that
we are in an oasis at Mizara'a

Liwa Trip - Car Museum

Date: 6 Mar 2009

Liwa is an oasis area in the Abu Dhabi emirate of the United Arab Emirates. It sits right on the edge of the Rub Al Khali (empty quarter), the largest sand desert in the world (ie. there is more sand in this desert than any other). A number of small towns and villages make up the Liwa area. Farms back right up against towering dunes hundreds of meters high. The sand varies in color from golden to red and changes rapidly during sunrise, sunset, and the specific area. There is a substantial palace in the area and a very nice 4 star hotel, the Liwa Oasis Hotel.

On the way to Liwa, we stopped at the Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (aka The Rainbow Sheikh)'s car museum. It’s a huge warehouse with the Sheikh’s car collection which contains some 200-odd cars, complete with what is probably the largest truck in the world.

Before we enter the museum, we stop at the camels & bird cages on the right hand side of the entrance. They have the biggest pigeons we have ever seen. They are the size of a chicken!

The car museum is in this pyramid shape building

A huge globe on wheels

A huge, 3 storey high " house on wheels"
This is a 11-bedroom villa!
A rusting white mercedes on 5 foot high wheels
The Sheikh's car collection
from all over the world,
back through time to the Model T











There are 4 bedrooms, a kitchen and
a bathroom inside this monster Dodge!

a giant 2 storey high model of
a Land Rover car on stilts
(which is in fact a restaurant)