Day 4 - Surfing the Badain Jaran Desert

I got up this morning super excited to go to the desert. I still wasn't sure what they meant by Jeep surfing but it sounded fun. 

We took the bus for a while and drove almost to the middle of nowhere. We could see the desert getting closer and closer. 

When we got there, there were eight jeeps lined up for us. We divided into four people for each jeep, having a leader or a teacher in each one. We were off soon after that. 

When they said jeep surfing, they literally meant, jeep surfing. We four wheeled through the desert, the first part was rough getting into the real desert. After that we raced up and down sand dune after sand dune. 

There were times we couldn't get up a dune and our car rolled down the dune again and we had to rev up so high in order to make it up a dune. It was just like a roller coaster. Our driver whipped our car here and there, up and down sand dunes. When we were at the top of a dune our car would dip down it again, I though our car was going to fall over. It was so scary.

We had to stop a lot though, a lot of people got sick or the cars would get stuck in a dune and not make it to the top. When that happened all the jeeps would stop together to wait and we'd get out and take pictures or just enjoy the view. The views were amazing and I loved being there. It was really cool, real cold, but the desert is just a fascinating place.

I can keep talking about it all but it's so hard to explain. I took a few videos and so many pictures, I'll post them all so you can see.

On our way back out of the desert, one of the cars broke down and we had to stop at the top of one of the dunes and wait for them to fix it. We all got out and explored or looked around. After a while everyone played games or just sat and talked. About and hour or so later, they finally got the car fixed, but it was getting late so we had to hurry back. 
We didn't make it out fast enough and it ended up getting dark while we were still in the desert. 
That was the scariest part, driving around in the desert when it was all dark. I don't know how our driver did it,but we made it out in one piece. Every once in a while we would fall down, because our car had passed another dune and dipped down. Our driver turned on karaoke in our car, I think he knew I was getting really scared.

When we finally made it out of the desert I was so happy. I was scared to death, but this was an experience I am so happy I was able to have. I love the desert and it is one of the most beautiful places I think there is. 

We go back on the bus and made it back into the city, eating dinner at out hotel. After a while these men walked in as well and we finally recognized them as our drivers. I think they were laughing because we were all dead or exhausted from our day and that drive. 

It was definitely and experience for the books.