There’s an unnerving crunch when I step onto the scorching sand for the first time. The gusting wind swirls the grains around, and they burn like tiny bits of charcoal every time they find my naked arms and face. The leftover goo doesn’t help by trapping them tight against the bare skin. As a result, the pain lingers even longer than it normally would.

I seek shelter behind one of the massive beams that our car has been wedged against. The severity of our situation comes into better focus when I notice that the metal is actually one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower. Well, not the Eiffel Tower, but the Vegas-sized replica of it. The soaring beams loom high over us and―besides being an impressive monument―serve immediate notice that we didn’t even come clo...

Please subscribe to keep reading.