An area logistically more dangerous to cross than Antarctica, given that helicopters cannot operate over significant distances because of thin air at up to 61 degrees to rescue the adventurer, it is as wild, desolate, beautiful and inhospitable.
The inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula once believed that their land was the only land in the world while half of the world was the sea. They thought a quarter was the inhabited lands around the peninsula’s edge and that the middle quarter, being a vast desert, was “empty”. Thus, the name Rub Al Khali or Empty Quarter.
Covering almost 650,000 sq km, including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, it is the size of France, the Netherlands and Belgium combined and features sand dunes up to 800m above sea level.
