outside of Al Mazyunah and being
woken by the Oman military, we are
asked to explain what it is we’re doing
in their backyard, we eventually find
our path north into the Empty Quar-
ter. These Oman Tourism maps just
don’t compare to Stuart’s Basecamp
skills that’s for sure.
I can’t compare to anything else the
feeling and sense of riding through
isolated stretches of nothingness ear-
ly in the morning. It is exhilarating,
inspiring and peaceful. On our way to
Qubbat An Nasr, we experience this
and on arriving at this isolated Police
Post we wonder if we have taken the
wrong turn somewhere. It genuinely
looks deserted, although a beat up
old jalopy is parked at the front door.
We shout and sound the bike horns to
alert anyone that maybe in residence.
Slowly but surely, two Omani Police
rise from their slumber and greet us
with Poratha and sweet chai, very
welcome indeed, as we have yet to
have breakfast. After ‘chewing the fat’
with them in broken Arabic and Eng-
lish we understand our destination
of Hishman and the ‘Rub Al Khail’ is
40km’s to the North of where we cur-
rently are, there is no visible road or
path. The Omani police roughly de-
scribe the terrain and direction to go
and sure enough we pick up on tyre
tracks winding to the north. Initially
the sand isn’t too soft, and once we
get the big Katoom’s up to cruising
speed and on their bow plane, we
make quick work of the softer sand.
In the distance we can make out the
TRAVERSE
73
silhouette of the start of the big dunes
and the entry to the ‘Rub Al Khail’ is
upon us.
We made it!
The small town of Hishman greets
us as we make out the date palms and
oasis that would have allowed this
small community to establish itself in
the days of the Camel trains and sup-
port the trade routes criss-crossing
the Arabian Peninsula. Torsten and
I congratulate each other on making
it to the Empty Quarter as we had set
out to do. Slowly we head back to
Salalah and onto to Dubai.
This trip was ‘Expeditionary’ in na-
ture, travelling light and quick, sleep-
ing rough and indulging in plenty of
local cuisine along the way. BH
Brett is available to run small expe-
ditions through Oman, see
www.turkanamotorcycleadventures.
com for more information.