Things that go bump in the evening

Yesterday I had to be in Abu Dhabi early for a site visit. It meant leaving at 6.30 and it was incredibly foggy. The drive was a bit hairy - drivers either have their hazards on or no lights at all (no-one used a fog light) and don't worry about slowing down. When we arrived the client wasn't there - 'we didn't think you'd come in this fog'. He arrived in a convoy of 5 Land Cruisers an hour and a half later.

We drove for a short while and then suddenly stopped to let the air out of the tyres ('one minute per tyre'). Next thing I know, we're bumping over the sand dunes trying to find a gas pipeline. It was quite exciting at first. As the client said, 'you pay 200 Dhs for this in Dubai and today we are paying you'. After 5 hours driving in the desert on a baking hot day, however, I'd seen enough gas pipeline to last me a lifetime.

On the way back, I dropped off my colleague at his villa at Arabian Ranches. The roundabout there is notorious and there seems to be a continuous police presence. I was queuing to get on the roundabout for ages. The guy behind me finally lost patience, thought I was moving when I wasn't, and thumped into the back of me.

His car was a complete mess, number plate off, bumper and bonnet all smashed up. Expecting the worst, I looked at the Jeep. Not a mark. The tyre mounted on the back had taken the entire impact and I've picked up a good Dubai car buying tip.

It was fortunate that the police were there and had seen it since you can wait ages for them to arrive. It was clearly the other guys fault so I wasn't worried about that but then he inevitably asked for my driving licence which, of course, I don't have. 'Is big trouble for you' he said. I pleaded ignorance and then, thankfully, there was another crash on the other side. He handed me the green form of no blame, gave the other guy the dreaded pink copy and drove off shouting 'go Barsha morning - get temporary licence'. Phew.