The Rub' al Khali (ٱلرُّبْع ٱلْخَالِي) or "Empty Quarter" is some 250,000 square miles in area and encompasses the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the largest continuous sand desert in the world and possesses the tallest sand dunes, some as high as 820 feet. The countries of Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen each share part of it.
We hired an experienced guide to show us this amazing landscape, timing our visit with sunset. Just to get to the edge of the Empty Quarter, from where we stayed in the city of Salalah in southern Oman, it is a over a 3.5 hour drive...much of it through barren landscape devoid of civilization. On the way we visited the "lost city" of Ubar and a preserved grove of Frankincense trees, both UNESCO World Heritage sites associated with the trade of frankinscence from ancient to medieval times.
Those are sand dunes in the distance, not mountains...
Our driver got our vehicle stuck in the sand.
Our vehicle stuck in the sand. Thankfully, there was someone there to pull us out.
Back to Oman
