This last weekend I had the chance to visit the Liwa oasis, which is part of the Rub' al Khali desert. Being part of the biggest continuous sand desert in the world, you can imagine the landscape is amazing and somewhat unreal, to add to it this is close to where the new Stars Wars movie was filmed. Here you have some of the highlights!

Amazing Dunes - Sony a7, FE 28-70mm @70mm F5.6 ISO 100 1/6000 sec.

It is easy to reach there, approximately 2.5 hrs from Abu Dhabi using the highway. Needless to say, this is only the start of the desert, if you want to adventure further a guide and a few proper 4x4 would be necessary.

Out of this world! Sony a7, FE28-70mm @ 28mm f3.5 ISO 100, 1/4000 sec.

Golden sands! Sony a7, FE28-70mm @ 28mm f3.5 ISO 100, 1/4000 sec.

The dunes do look big from the base, but it is only when you try to climb them up when you realize how tall and difficult it actually is. If you add the ultra soft sand then you will have the perfect workout for the morning. Going up, I was able to take pictures from different angles with different results on the colors on sand as the sun was rising.

Grain of sand Sony a7, FE28-70mm @ 28mm f3.5 ISO 100, 1/2500 sec.

It took us around 25 minutes to reach the top, you can see how tiny the rest of the group and cars looks in those pictures which were not even took from the top.

Definitely a very good experience to take advantage from before the weather goes too hot. The night was quiet and cool with a bit of breeze that helped with the fire for the food. If you want to reach to the same spot, take the road to Qasr al Sarab and just continue for a few minutes after the hotel. Recoomended a good 4x4 even if you are not planning to bash the dunes!