My third visit to Dubai was purely a family affair; We, the family and some family friends went for the famous Desert Safari, although I soon realised it was nothing but a punishment for a crime I was going to commit, a test of my stomach and muscles, and the coordination between body and brain. We drove our cars to the point where the desert starts and then hired jeeps, which took us to the camp, which served as the venue for dining and a belly dance performance. The driver reduced the air pressure in the tires to extremely low to make the vehicle move on the sand dunes. When we started the journey, I felt a twist in my small intestine. It felt like that the organs might have changed their positions within my body. I never felt my brain so detached from my body, but I still tried to show the impression that I was enjoying the drive. Ten jerks per minute made my mind and body behave differently. I felt cramps in my stomach and a desire to throw up, a situation, which lasted for about two hours. The only attraction I could think about throughout the two hour journey was what a belly dance in the desert might look like.
My weary feeling diminished to some extent when we arrived at our destination. Soon the dancer appeared on the stage and started her performance. After she had performed solo for a while, she invited me to come on the stage and dance with her. Noticing my hesitation, she came to where I was sitting on the floor and pulled me up on the stage. I had no option but to go with her as all the people were looking at us. I had a dance with her, although I felt a little embarrassed. This also made the male friends with us forlorn at not being chosen to go with her on stage. Even though this happened about fifteen years ago, still these friends mention the episode.