Bashing Sand

Wild escapes make us happy!

JING SAYS...

"We were crawling our way up a steep incline when our driver suddenly warned: Tatagilid tayo. Kumapit kayo! Did he really say we were going to flip over? Dear Lord, I thought, I'm much too young to die!

We are at the sand dunes of Paoay, south of Ilocos Norte. For many years, the locals thought this land was cursed, filled with tracts and tracts of barren sand. But thanks to a parade of film production companies that saw the desert's potential for movie settings, Paoay suddenly became a favored destination. The hip factor came in when adrenaline junkies surfed the dunes on their sandboards, and 4x4 all-terrain vehicles came bashing on the sand, giving riders cheap thrills akin to a roller-coaster ride."

This is a tract from a feature story I wrote for Yummy magazine's annual Pinoy issue last September. I remember it now because I had just seen Mad Max: Fury Road, and my mind was just blown away. Not that we did anything as remotely dangerous as those crazy stunts those dudes did in the sands of Namibia. But our driver did do some mind-boggling moves, which had my belly in knots! But when we were just coasting along the sand, driving through endless tracts which led nowhere, it was beautifully peaceful. The desert, it was lovely!   

P.S. The alien-like art installations, which looked so at home in the desert, were made by Leeroy New. Here's how they did it: