Photos

During the Ramadan Eid break, some friends and I spent a few days driving around the Empty Quarter. While stopping for petrol, these three Fowj wandered up and talked with us for a while. We were pretty far out there...near the border with Yemen. We had actually been stopped by the local MOI police for driving without a permit to be out in the desert. After this, we got an armed escort all the way into Najran where we stayed at a friend's villa.

The best part was just the "wild west" sort of feeling out there. Here these guys came up, knives and guns, and they're just out there doing their thing. Just an ordinary day, except for the foreigners in their neighborhood. Fascinating.

They were more than amenable to having their picture taken, too. It's a bit posed, but seeing as they were armed, I figured best to err on the safe side, and get their permission.