The Empty Quarter

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One of the last frontiers yet to fall into mans ownership. A beautiful place strictly reserved for the gutsy who can brave a 1000 kilometer ride into no where with temperatures ranging from 40 to 50 degrees. With camels and sand for company you will be stranded for good if you are not the outdoorsy type. Best way to reach is from Abu Dhabi and hop on a 3 hour drive to reach Madinat Zayed then drive straight on up to Liwa Oasis. The place is the birth place of UAE Royalty, a dead piece of land brought to vibrant life with all the cash of the new found affluence and German technology. After driving few hundred kilometers of lifeless desert this Oasis looks like Scotland in winter. Its a beautiful place with a palace and all that. Liwa can be used as base camp or to fill up the car or your stomach coz that’s the place with last human contact you will have. The landscape begins to change from here, the silvery white sands turn to reddish brown. At sunrise and sunset the sand colour changes into a myriad shades and hues.

Once in Liwa keep following the signs for Morcheeb Dune, UAE's second highest dune after the one in Al Ain. There is an annual race held for cars that can go up the Morcheeb dune face. Word has it that none of the racers ever did it. Morcheeb is as far as a regular car can go coz the road ends there. If you are driving a 4X4 Landcruiser then good on you. Enter The Empty Quarter, the World’s largest sand desert and notorious for quick sands. I personally got inspired by the English explorer Wilfred Thesiger who braved the wrath of nomads with the help of Rashid’s and crossed the Empty Quarter to reach the Trucial coast. Ofcourse my trip was not as exiting or eventful as my man Thesiger coz all those nomads have been lured into the city by tempting lifestyle. I don't balme them but I do have an immense respect for those who coninue to life life the old way.

While there do take care of your equipment from the sand and salt content in the air especially the cameras. And DO NOT under-estimate the height of the dunes. They are pretty high but the clear skyline creates and illusion of nearness. No one wants to get the car struck there even if you have a shovel and loads of experience in outdoor driving. One thing you have not faced before is the heat so watch out. Also keep a close eye on the salt flats, early in the mornings they are quite sticky and tend to slip under your foot or tyre.

If you are planning to go there do read Thesiger's book which can provide wonderful insights about desert life and their values. Though it is called The Empty Quarter it is a place full of inspiration and creative development.

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Photos

Longway to no where
The road goes on and on till you reach the end of the road.

The Empty Quarter
I put the bag there to provide a contrast to an otherwise flat landscape.

65000 kms of emptiness
Surrounded by Saudi, UAE, Oman and Yemen its the biggest of all sand deserts.

Dunes the size of sky scrapers
They stand about 250-330 meters high

Salt bushes
Its a miracle that anything at all grows in these horrendous conditions.

Rub Al Khali from Al Ain
This one from the top of Jebel Hafeet

Nice place to camp
Huge drops and steep dunes.

Phone
I counted 23 phones on the way and every single one of them had its hand piece ripped off by some miscreants. So much for Etisalat's effort!!

Sticky stuff
Salt, sand and moisture makes for a nice quicksand recipe....

Comments

[memphis]

the dester
a dester

[yasuo ishida]

just reasd an articvle about wilfred thesiger in the aramco publication. most impressed! no, i am not courageous enough to explore this "emptyu" region.

[Yathi]

Hey Ishida, bad news mate. This region isn't empty anymore. Atleast the places I have been to. Too many oil drilling plants and hotels have sprung up lately. Worst of all its an unofficial dump yard for all the hazardous materials from Abu dhabi and Dubai. Seen too much of chemical dumping happening there. So don't worry, u aren't missing much.

[navin]

corection
Its Moreeb dunes. not Morcheeb

[Yathi]

I Realized.
Hi Navin, Thanks mate. It was about 4 years ago. The board there used to go with a different name back then. I changed it in my newer posts. Thanks anyways :)

[Nas]

IT IS CLEAN
It is not true that Liwa has become the dump yard for chemicals. The area is protected, wild life sanctuaries have been set up (it is normal to see gazzelles and rabbits out there), two hotels are there, oil installations are fenced, and every effort is being made to preserve the environment. I am an avid offroader and we do offroading trips to Liwa during the cool months in winter. It is a beautiful place and continues to be

[Yathi]

Avid offroader, I assume you know how to use a GPS or Google Earth. Try this!!! 24 01 32 N 54 23 43 E Yeah a real big dump yard! And good job trampling all the desert bushes in the cool months. Wonder why there are so many fences in a desert where no one lives? If you know any thing about ecology then it isn't hard to see how easy it is to pollute a desert system with just one dump yard and occasional dune bashing. Thanks for your comment nevertheless.

[Kamaluddeen Dahiru]

Even the mail look like empty quarter to me!!!!
How I wish one day Allah will grant me time money and wisdom to visit this beautiful place before I finally return back to him. Amin

[Madison]

size
The size is to little. I am a reprt for school and i cant see half of the stuff on the map.

[Yathi]

Say what?
Hey Madison, Let me know what you are looking for and I shall send it for you. Location of Liwa?

[Rose]

awesome place
I was thrilled to see your photos of the empty quarter. I lived in UAE for 3 years and took 3 trips to Liwa. I find the desert very addictive - it is magnificent and changes so much with the hour of the day and the seasons. Best Wishes, R

[Yathi]

Hey!!
Hi Rose!! Thanks for the comments. I just came back from Liwa today. Will put up some pics. Been a very eventful day with the car :)

[Go jumph]

Go empty Q
Hi, This is the most driest, flatest and empty land mass on the earth planet. go empty quarter,Rub al-Khali in arabia.