The boys are getting closer to home. Al Ain, the garden city, from Dubai, is just a little over a 1½ hour drive. In his book, Thesiger referred to as Jebel Hafeet as a dominant mountain rock in the midst of the dunes.

 A formal gathering was organised at the Jahili Fort involving two former companions of Thesiger himself, their names Salim bin Ghabaish and Salim bin Kabina.

Both are now in their late 70′s but remain very switched on and were eager to share their travel tales with Adrian, Ghafan and Saeed.

I heard afterwards that the old boys had given Adrian et al a hard time, comparing the more hardcore crossing of old with the quicker and slightly supported expedition of now. This expedition after all hasn’t involved any long stretches without food, any threat of tribal Bedu wars or any extreme temperatures. Saying that, conditions were very different 60 years ago so even with the best of intentions, the trails could not be restaged in the exact same way. I reckon the old boys where just teasing them, eager to keep their efforts, stories and memories alive

Next and final stop? Abu Dhabi.

Wk.