The Empty Quarter

Made legendary by the exploits of explorers like Bertram Thomas, St. John Philby and most famously of all, Wilfred Thesiger, the Rub Al-Khali (Empty Quarter) is a place of myth and fearful reputation. It’s possible to take a daytrip from Salalah to dip one’s toes into this vast sand sea where the dunes line up in towering ranks like ridges on a corrugated steel sheet covering 250,000 square miles of inhospitable terrain. For a sense of complete isolation and to get just an inkling of what the desert Bedouin and men like Thesiger endured (or even enjoyed) it’s a trip worth taking.