In The Desert

camel desert dubai sandstorm dunes arabic desertlaila in the desert camel desert dubai sandstorm dunes arabic desertcamel wearing jacket stripy fabric desert dubai sandstorm dunes arabic desert
camel desert dubai sandstorm dunes arabic desert
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If you can cast your mind back to a couple of posts ago you may remember I was in Dubai briefly, where these photos were taken. Whilst in the desert we got caught in a sandstorm. I’ve never seen a sandstorm before and it was incredible. It looked like swirls of red cartoon smoke rising off the dunes, except very heavy smoke that moved more like a cloth in water.

We travelled through the dunes by camel, and later I tried quad bikes. Both were brilliant! I love camels; they’re very intelligent animals who always look like they’re smiling. They are also incredibly well adapted to survive in the desert; they can walk continuously for 18 hours and smell water from over 2km away. I was given this headscarf by our camel guide to stop the sand from destroying my face (sandstorms look cool but are quite painful). Between the headscarf and the fact that my camel seemed equally as taken with me as I was with him, the rest of our group kept joking about me having secret Bedouin roots.

The Bedouin seem a really interesting people despite the fact that the 20th century has seen huge changes to their culture. Traditionally the Bedouin love good deeds and followed a strict code of ethics in which everybody in the tribe needed to learn a craft (women trained alongside men). They are incredibly generous hosts, giving up their most prized possessions in order to be deemed hospitable. Despite the hardships desert life must bring there is something remarkable when you think about people living amongst the dunes, following the stars and trusting your camel to lead you to water.

P.S. If you’re thinking, “I thought she was pro-animal rights? What is she doing riding a camel?” then my thoughts have been previously documented here.
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laila in the desert camel desert dubai sandstorm dunes arabic desert
laila headscarf tribe bedouin sandstorm woman camel desert dubai sandstorm dunes arabic desert

Prineville

Prineville clock tower back to the future oregon tapeparade tape paradeSnocap cute retro font signage vintage shop front

Oregon OR Roseburg Lookingglass woodland forest scenery green greenery countryside sisters smith rock tennis white clothes urban outfitters tapeparade blog tape parade laila
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Welcome to Prineville! I spent a few days here in this small town; it’s definitely not one of the foremost tourist destinations in Oregon but I really enjoyed the slower relaxing pace, beautiful sunsets, abundance of wildlife and quaint old-timey buildings. Quite a turnaround from New York!

I mentioned my family ties to Oregon and a large chunk of family are based in Prineville. There was one night where there were maybe 12 people in the room who I have a blood relationship with. It was weirdly assuring to experience “family” in Prineville; I have a difficult relationship with both my parents and have few other relatives in the UK, so growing up I often felt very apart from anything you could call “family”. Whilst it was an interesting peek into what life with a large family could have been like, I’m grateful I grew up largely alone. I’m also lucky I have multiple surrogate mother and father figures around these days (as well as a slew of older brother types who I can annoy and bicker with in equal measure).

Family musings aside! There were quite a few weird coincidences and serendipitous moments during my month long dash round the US (I believe in magic). One of the weirdest was watching Back to the Future on the plane over to Oregon and then arriving in Prineville to be told that the clock tower in the film is the same as (i.e. directly copied) the clock tower in Prineville. Have you seen the film/do you recognise it?

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smith rock outside evening sunset clouds trees pretty scenery

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