The Empty Quarter

Rub Al Khali

The famous Empty Quarter, or Rub Al Khali, occupies the south western region of Oman, straddling the border with Saudi Arabia and the Yemen. It is an extraordinary moonscape of sand dunes, sparse thorn bushes and rocks.

Perhaps this prompts the question, why would you want to go there? The answer is difficult to put into words. The Empty Quarter is an experience to which no words can really do justice. To head into the desert with a Bedouin guide and to spend a night or two camping out under the stars amid this incredible environment is an astonishing encounter. The beauty of the desert, its sheer scale and its constantly changing shapes and colours are entrancing.

The Empty Quarter’s extreme temperatures and arid conditions mean that it is mostly uninhabited, although its fringes are home to the proud, resourceful and hardy Bedu, who have survived here for centuries.