The Empty Quarter

Oman

January 22, 2015

The Rub' al Khali (Arabic: الربع الخالي‎) or Empty Quarter is the second largest sand desert in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. 

The desert covers some 650,000 square kilometers (250,000 sq miles – about the size of Texas or France).  It includes parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.  It is part of the larger Arabian Desert. 

Shall I attempt to describe the Empty Quarter?  I’ll leave that to my guide Mohammed and to my photographs.  (Mohammed also did a photo shoot of Mr. Jan.)

The newspaper article says it all!  

Finally, I wish I had taken an introductory course in star-gazing.   I can only identify the Big Dipper and the North Star and Orion’s Belt.   

Can you imagine the brilliant sight here in the “unpolluted” endless, cloudless, black, night sky of the desert? 

Jan

PS  After sundown, it’s cold in the desert.  With a flashlight, I find my tent and crash into the cot.  Fully clothed, I simply snuggle into the thick sleeping bag.  I doze off a bit, but get up before dawn to shoot the sunrise.