Sea of sand: the Empty Quarter covers 585,000 sq km and spans four countries.
Sea of sand: the Empty Quarter covers 585,000 sq km and spans four countries.

Rub al Khali: empty, but for how much longer?



IBRI, OMAN // Their camels have been replaced by air-conditioned jeeps. Their ability to navigate the wilderness, handed down through generations, is augmented by GPS instruments. Now the Bedouins who once traversed the Empty Quarter in trade caravans are becoming increasingly prosperous as tour guides in the Omani desert.

Sprawling over four countries - Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - the Rub al Khali, as it is called in Arabic, covers an area of 585,000 sq km of beautiful yet often forbidding orange-yellow sand dunes that hold a treasure of wildlife and, for many, produce a unique calm. For visitors, the vastness of the Empty Quarter, its eerie silence and the loneliness of the night are therapeutic. Ahmed al Abrawi, 43, an urbanised Bedouin living in Ibri, 450 kms northwest of the Omani capital, Muscat, has six four-wheel drive vehicles for his small tour-guide business, as opposed to the 24 camels his father had before his death in 2002. He employs only fellow Bedouins as drivers. While the equipment is new, the purpose to which it is put is not: Mr al Abrawi sees it as his calling to continue the Bedouin tradition of hospitality and helping visitors explore the desert. Not that he and his ancestors still would see eye-to-eye.

"My grandfather would have been upset with my attempt to replace the camels with machines," he said. Still, the increasing profits of his tour business are vital for his family at a time when Bedouins can no longer survive on the nearly extinct trade in the animal skins, dates, wool and pottery that the desert caravans once supported. Although it had been used by Bedouins as a transit route for centuries, the Empty Quarter achieved modern-day renown due to British explorer Wilfred Thesiger and his book Arabian Sands, which recounted his treks through the desolate region between 1945 and 1950.

For contemporary travellers, it takes five to six hours to reach the Empty Quarter. While more than 20 tour companies shuttle foreign and domestic tourists there throughout the year, most of the expeditions never cross paths because of the sheer size of the desert. "You may think you are the only one camping, but there are others somewhere behind the thousands of dunes around you," said Salim Busaidy, owner of Golden Sands Tour. "It makes you think you have got the place to yourself."

Jean Claude La Cheaux, a 70-year-old retiree from France, cannot count the number of times he has been to the Empty Quarter during his lifetime. "The great silence, the stillness and the endless sands during the day makes you reconcile with your troubles. The stars during the night makes you wonder about God even for those who don't believe in him," Mr La Cheaux said. Bedouins have never settled in the Empty Quarter, and they have a joke that the expanse is God's chosen site for "Eternal Hell". It has few water holes for the occasional camel caravans that one still sees when Bedouins cross the quarter on their way to Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

The caravan routes, marked by the imprint of camel hooves that meander between the sand dunes, are fast disappearing. More common are the imprints of four-wheel drive vehicles, which tourists prefer to climb the sandy hills in search of a perfect view over the plains. For Mr al Abrawi, the real romance of the Empty Quarter died long ago when the previous generation began to settle in Oman's towns and cities. His grandfather, he said, never needed an instrument to guide engineers to survey the desert looking for oil and gas.

"He would have been ashamed of me that I use a GPS to navigate," Mr al Abrawi chuckled. "The beauty of this land is to use the instincts you are born with to get around, but it is a dying breed now." Mr al Abrawi was born in Ibri, an adjacent town north of the Empty Quarter. In his 20s, he accompanied his father on many government-sponsored expeditions to document the wildlife of the Empty Quarter.

Tourists today never realise that life actually exists in that stretch of desert, Mr al Abrawi said. They are oblivious to the lizards, wild cats, leopards, gazelles, vultures and even ants that blend with the sands, invisible to the casual visitor. Mr La Cheaux agreed, saying that only those visitors who have developed a close relation with the Empty Quarter notice the wildlife. "I have to say I have been enjoying a great romance with this desert over the years for it to show me its wealth. I feel privileged, and that's why I keep coming back," he said.

At nightfall, it is easy to see why. The desert comes into its own, both tour operators and campers say. The incredible multitude of stars compete for places in the pitch- black night sky. "Like millions of strewn pearls, the stars mesmerise you and put you at ease to forget your worries," said Mr Busaidy, who has been running his tour company, Golden Sands Tour, since 1996. "I never get tired of the desert nights I spend here, no matter what month of the year it is."

Mr al Abrawi encourages his clients never to kill the camel spiders or the scorpions that come out in the night. They are part of the great richness of the desert, he said. "If you enjoy the tranquility and the peace that comes with it, then you must acknowledge the right to exist for these crawling creatures," salshaibany@thenational.ae

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

Brief scores:

England: 290 & 346

Sri Lanka: 336 & 243

Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):

1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop

2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia -  £25m: Flop

3). Erik Lamela - Roma -  £25m: Jury still out

4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen -  £25m: Success

5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic -  £21m: Flop

6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar -  £18m: Flop

7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers -  £18m: Flop

8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb -  £17m: Success

9). Paulinho - Corinthians -  £16m: Flop

10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham -  £16m: Success

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.

However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.

Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

Recipe

Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.

Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.

Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking,  remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.

Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.

 

Results

6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)

7.05pm Maiden Dh150,000 1,400m I Winner One Season, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar

7.40pm: Maiden Dh150,000 2,000m I Winner Street Of Dreams, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

8.15pm Dubai Creek Listed Dh250,000 1,600m I Winner Heavy Metal, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer

8.50pm The Entisar Listed Dh250,000 2,000m I Winner Etijaah, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson

9.25pm The Garhoud Listed Dh250,000 1,200m Winner Muarrab, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe

10pm Handicap Dh160,000 1,600m Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi

The specs

Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Power: 575bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh554,000

On sale: now

Scoreline

Liverpool 3
Mane (7'), Salah (69'), Firmino (90')

Bournemouth 0

How to get there

Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
 

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

UAE SQUAD

 Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).

Sheer grandeur

The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.

A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.

Planes grounded by coronavirus

British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China 

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30

Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong

Ai Seoul:  Suspended all flights to China

Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March

Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February

South Korea's Asiana Airlines,  Jeju Air  and Jin Air: Suspend all flights

TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:

- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools

- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say

- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance

- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs

- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills

- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month

- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues

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UAE squad v Australia

Rohan Mustafa (C), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Fahad Nawaz, Amjed Gul, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Muhammad Naveed, Amir Hayat, Ghulam Shabir (WK), Qadeer Ahmed, Tahir Latif, Zahoor Khan

Scoreline

Arsenal 0 Manchester City 3

  • Agüero 18'
  • Kompany 58'
  • Silva 65'
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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