Into the void by Ayswarya Murthy

Into the void A band of adventurers from Oman attempt to cross the sprawling Empty Quarter by foot, retracing a historic thousand kilometer journey. BY AYSWARYA MURTHY PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN C SMITH

IMAGE COURTESY MARCUS GEORGE (AFP)

WANDERLUST For British Explorer Mark Evans this is neither his longest expedition nor his first time in the Rub' al Khali.

SNATCHES OF HISTORY Clockwise from left: Before Bertram Thomas's camera was destroyed in a sandstorm he managed to capture some amazing pictures of the journey; Sheikh Saleh bin Kalut Al Rashidi Al Kathiri, the only Omani to complete the entire journey from Salalah to Doha; the then Emir of Qatar HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani with Mohammed Bin Abdul Latif Al Mana (to the right) and his brother (to the left); Thomas with some of the tribesmen who occupied the Empty Quarter.

PICTURES COURTESY: CROSSING THE EMPTY QUARTER

It has been 12 days since the group ran into another human being. Which is probably just as well because “local pride and hospitality sometimes got in the way of our need to make progress,” Evans writes.

IN THE ANNALS OF HISTORY, Bertram Thomas has largely been relegated to obscurity. Even in early 20th century Arabia, he must have been something of a relic — as an explorer, representing one of the last remaining vestiges of Oriental romanticism, and as a British civil servant, flying the flag of an empire that had peaked. Apart from his moment in the sun in 1931 when he led the first recorded expedition across the Empty Quarter (Rub’ al Khali), he remained in the shadow of more famous contemporaries like T. E. Lawrence (or Lawrence of Arabia, as he is better known). Looking back at Thomas’ life, one is astonished how much we, as a civilization, forget, despite our penchant for rigorous record-keeping. But deep inside the desolate stretches of the Arabian desert, elders of Bedouin tribes still remember the intrepid Arabist well, mostly through reminiscences handed down through word of mouth. It couldn’t have been easy to forget the madman who set out on foot to conquer the mind-numbing vastness of the Rub’ al Khali, the devourer of lost wanderers. As T. E. Lawrence memorably wrote, “We cannot know the first man who walked the inviolate earth for newness’ sake: but Thomas is the last.” In the 85 years that have since passed, only a handful have succeeded in recreating the feat. Even in this day and age, it’s a formidable challenge. While political boundaries have taken the place of warring tribes, inside the Empty Quarter the sands of time are still. It might as well be 1930. Or 300 AD. Or the beginning of human history itself. Except for the few anomalies that seem to interfere with this perception — like the satellite phone over which we catch up with the latest team involved in this adventure. This journey is special. One that not only retraces the exact route that Thomas took from Salalah to Doha but which also is connected by blood to the original expedition, through Sheikh Mubarak Saleh Muhammad Saleh bin Kalut, the direct descent of Sheikh Salih bin Kalut Al Rashidi Al Kathiri who was Thomas’s guide and the only one by his side as he entered Doha Fort on February 5, 1931. He even carries with him his greatgreat-grandfather’s khanjar (a traditional Omani dagger) that is technically “the only one of us who has been all the way across the Rub’ al Khali”, according to team leader Mark Evans.

It’s Day 28, just after noon. Over 500 kilometers from Doha, the five men and three camels rest beside a well, 12 feet deep and filled with crystal clear water. Thomas talks about this water source in Arabia Felix, his seminal work detailing the journey, and there is collective relief that this one hadn’t run dry, like some of the others. The camels (Helwa, “the beautiful one”, Samha, “the well behaved”, and Al Abra, “ship of the desert”, all on loan from the Royal Cavalry in Muscat) don’t seem too keen on the slightly saline water, but the men are thrilled at the prospect of their first wash in nearly two weeks. Evans expects and hopes that

"We cannot know the first man who walked the inviolate earth for newness’ sake: but Thomas is the last.”

they shouldn’t have to wait too long for their next; they are six days away from a big watering hole mentioned in the book, representing a pivotal point in their journey, ending their long north-westerly march and placing them dead south of Doha. When there are no opportunities for a shower, the best they can do is drop a few beads of frankincense onto the fire, and waft the aromatic smoke using a cupped hand into their faces to freshen up. Those wearing the thobe (the Arabic dress) straddle the fire and allow the smoke to drift up their clothing and out of the neck, ensuring a full body experience! Progress is slow but steady. Time is now measured in marches and, on an average, the group manages to cover 20 kms in a day. On a normal day, devoid of rain or sandstorm, the camp stirs to life at around 5 am, in time for the first prayer of the day. “We get a fire going and gather around it for a bit of tea or coffee, before heading off no later than 6.30. We try to cover as much ground as possible while it’s still cool,” Evans says. After a quick water break, the party walks or rides the camels for a couple of hours more, before stopping for their afternoon rest. “Then we set off again and don’t stop until around 4 pm so as to give ourselves an hour of daylight — there’s lots to be done before the sun goes down,” Evan says. In addition to cooking dinner, updating social media channels and their online blog (which allows readers to vicariously experience the punishing and exhilarating journey) and cataloging the pictures and videos taken during the day, the company also attends to the two research projects to which they are contributing — the Palaeodeserts Project, led by the University of Oxford, which examines the relation between humid and arid climatic periods and population density in the Arabian Desert, and another that seeks to study individual responses to extreme and isolated environments. By 8 pm the weary men are in their sleeping bags. Their final job before turning in is to hobble the camels, whose two front legs are tied loosely together to stop them wandering too far in the night. On a good night, they drift off to sleep under a spectacular starry sky. But opting to not bring tents has also meant a few times when they have had to bury themselves in their sleeping bags and attempt to sleep through a swirling sandstorm. However trials like waking up covered in a thick layer of sand or completely damp from the early morning dew, painful blisters on the feet and even the occasional kick from a camel soon fade into the background — drowned out by the deafening silence of the desert, and you are distracted by the strange voyages you begin to take into the unexplored corners of your own mind. “When there is no wind, the only noises we would hear on our daily march would be the creak of

THE LONG WALK AHEAD The party, comprising Mohammed Al Zadjali, Amour Al Wahaibi, Mark Evans, Sheikh Mubarak Saleh Muhammad Saleh Bin Kalut and Ali Ahmed Sha’af Al Mshili along with the support team made up of Sim Davis and John C Smith, begin the long, arduous walk from Salalah in Oman,meant to come to an end 40 days later in Doha, Qatar.

IMAGE COURTESY: FACING PAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK; AND CROSSINGTHEEMPTYQUARTER.COM (5)

Evans notes that the Empty Quarter is arguably emptier today than it has been for many years as people migrate to the periphery. And yet, he maintains, the Bedouin have managed to retain one foot in the sand whilst embracing technology and progress. the camel’s knees, the grinding of their teeth, and our periodic conversations. On a seven-hour march, one’s mind drifts and wanders, and it is a perfect place to put life’s issues firmly in perspective,” Evans writes. “It was the Norwegian polar explorer, diplomat and Nobel Laureate Fridtjof Nansen who, after his attempt to reach the North Pole, said ‘I tell you, deliverance will not come from the noisy, rushing centers of civilization. The solutions will come from the lonely places’.” Wilfred Thesiger, who made a similar journey across the Rub’ al Khali some 15 years after Thomas, wrote in his travel book Arabian Sands about how oil wealth was pulling the Bedouins away from their heritage. Evans notes this, saying the Empty Quarter is arguably emptier today than it has been for many years as people migrate to the periphery. The team walks across a site that was once home to large numbers of Bedouin who have now moved north to be closer to the motorable road that lies about 150 km away. And yet, he maintains, they have managed to retain one foot in the sand whilst embracing technology and progress. As they follow those 85-year old footsteps, Evans and his band of travelers sometimes bump into the same tribes that Thomas met along his way; the older men sometimes remember stories of the expedition as told to them by their fathers and, around a warm fire, anecdotes are swapped. Back then, many of them were at war with each other and lonely, nameless travelers were especially suspect. The Sheikh, as it turned out, was not only an inimitable guide but also a suave diplomat who negotiated safe passage across these arbitrary borders. Today the explorers are greeted with warmth and interest wherever they chance upon someone. Evans comments that the hospitality of Bedouins remains unchanged over the years. “We are overwhelmed by the generosity we have been shown; irrespective of who and where they are — from the outskirts of Oman to here in the middle of Saudi Arabia, from the Al Kathiri and Al Rashdi to the Al Murrah tribes. You don’t see this in many other places in the world and this is what makes Arabia such a special place,” he says. It has been 12 days since the group ran into another human being. Which is probably just as well because “local pride and hospitality sometimes got in the way of our need to make progress,” Evans writes. He recounts the time when the peace of the desert was suddenly broken by the sound of an approaching vehicle. “On discovering us, the driver leapt into the back of his pickup and let off one loud rifle shot into the sky with a 65-year-old rifle that jammed three times before working. The sound of the single rifle shot was all the remaining vehicles needed to work out our location; within minutes, 15 vehicles descended, carrying in the region of 50 members of the Al Rashdi tribe, whose territory we are now passing through. After much handshaking, nose pressing and shouting, mats were laid out on the sand, and coffee, dates and nibbles were served, hotly followed by a wonderful song (and dancing) of welcome, written especially for us. A brave poet stepped forward and proudly read out some lines he had written, before a rifle-shooting contest ensued,” Evans says. With one or the other, it was several hours before the leader of the tribe

PICTURE COURTESY: CROSSING THE EMPTY QUARTER

announced the festivities concluded and the group was allowed to depart, full of lamb, camel meat and rice. The historic context is important to these new-age explorers. “Like anywhere else in the world, the younger generation here in the Gulf is forgetting their history and heritage. In places like Dubai (and Doha, to some extent) as the new rapidly replaces the old, roots are being erased,” Evans says. This journey is an attempt to jog memories and reconnect the youth with their past. Thomas and Sheikh bin Kalut had created history when they finally reached Qatar, where they were received by the then Emir HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, and the feat put Doha in the front page of international newspapers like The New York Times in USA and The Times in London. It was probably the first time many had heard of the tiny emirate. The ghosts of the two early explorers are constant companions as the men trudge through the shifting sands. “Between ourselves we have several copies of Arabia Felix and we invariably draw parallels between our journeys. Everyday our appreciation for them grows. Today we have an excellent support team but for 60 days no one knew where Thomas and his men were. Every single day was fraught with uncertainty. When will they find water again?

PICTURE CREDIT: SIM DAVIS (@SIMDAVIS)

Bertram Thomas' feat put Doha in the front page of international newspapers like The New York Times in USA and The Times in London. It was probably the first time many had heard of the tiny emirate.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE Above: A welcoming party awaits Bertram Thomas in 1930; In present day, camels from a nearby farm, attracted to the three females in the party, pursue them till they are shooed away.

Will the next tribe they meet be hostile?” It is impossible today to imagine the sheer audaciousness of the exercise, of boldly walking into a void, a true testament to the curious and restless human spirit. Surreal still is the actual presence of an heir of one of the original duo. Evans had made attempts to connect with the families of the two men. “We were able to speak with Bertram Thomas’ greatgranddaughter who currently lives in Scotland. But tracing Sheikh bin Kalut’s descendents proved to be more difficult,” Evans remembers. “Luckily Sheikh Mubarak bin Kalut eventually contacted us when he heard news about the journey via social media.” And right now he is part of the expedition, guiding the group, much like his celebrated ancestor did, through the central span of Saudi Arabia, the veins on whose sands he knows as intimately as those on his own hands. Thomas’ ambition to cross the Empty Quarter occupied all his waking moments since, in the capacity of the Finance Minister and Wazir to the Sultan, he traveled with him in the northern parts of Oman. Moreover he was determined to be the first and to beat St John Philby (or Ibn Philby, advisor to Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia) who was planning a similar trek. Once, he was teased by his companions because he was unmarried, and the Sultan, who knew his secretly cherished desire to 'penetrate' the Rub' al Khali, said to Thomas: “Insha’ Allah, I will help to marry you one of these days to that which is near to your heart.” And his private secretary added, “A virgin indeed.”