• Of camels and Ya Humars

September 21, 2004

Watching the sunset in the Sahara while riding on the back of a camel seemed like a scene out of a romance novel. Well, the ‘too-good-to-be-true’ scene became possible as the convoy members decided to trade their cars for camels to watch the sunset. The entire ride lasted two hours, and the experience was simply amazing. The ride was slow but meaningful, and we could savour the sunset.

I am really not sure whether the camels in the Tunisian desert knew I had to write a story and conspired to provide some drama and action to make it more interesting. The drama started when the camel behind me decided to launch an attack on me, which resulted in me screaming my lungs out.

I was really frightened for the camel opened its mouth extremely wide and I could see its teeth and tongue reaching out to bite me. (By the way, I received the Ya Humar Award in the morning for screaming loud enough for the entire Sahara to hear!)

On our last night in Libya, we had dinner at the home of Encik Suhaimi, Head of Chancellery with the Malaysian Embassy. We had an exotic blend of Libyan cuisines with Malaysian ‘sambal belacan’. With that, we bid adieu to Libya and entered Tunisia.

We are now in Tunisia which I find a beautiful country. We entered the town of Tataouine and checked into a hotel there. The hotel was really beautiful – cosy and serene at the foot of hill. Its setting was a soothing balm for the weary travellers.