The Heart of Arabia Expedition, The Final Leg

By Brid Beeler / / 29 March 2023

I have just spent nine weeks in Oman and had the opportunity to catch up with many friends not seen since before the pandemic. One of those was Mark Evans, who had just completed the second part of his Heart of Arabia expedition from Riyadh to Jeddah. We sat down in his home to talk about the expedition, which closely followed a journey undertaken in 1917 by Harry St John (Abdullah) Philby, who travelled from Baghdad to Riyadh to meet Ibn Saud prior to his unification of the tribes of Saudi Arabia. Philby was to become an advisor to Ibn Saud and the two formed a lifelong friendship.

Prior to Christmas 2022, Mark had completed the first leg of that journey from Al Uqair in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia to Riyadh covering some 2,600 kms, much of that in Ar Rub Al Khali (the Empty Quarter), where his team visited meteorite sites and conducted a variety of scientific observations.

The Heart of Arabia Expedition, The Final Leg

The bonus to this extraordinary expedition was the inclusion of Reem Philby, St John Philby’s granddaughter. Reem was born in Saudi Arabia and for the first time, Philby’s UK and Saudi families were united in Riyadh over dinner, hosted by Reem’s family, on what is now known as Philby Street. Joining Mark and Reem on the expedition was Ana-Maria Pavalache, the Swiss-based photographer, and Alan Morrissey, the Irish logistical expert.

Mark has spent the last 18 years living in Oman and is CEO of Outward Bound. It is a testament to Mark’s ability to have successfully implemented this great outdoors school. Mark says, “the desert is the greatest educator of all,” and I strongly agree. I was living in Muscat when Mark established the school. Today, there are 46 Omanis working in Outward Bound, with three training facilities, one in Jebel Akhdar in the mountains in Dakhaliyah, another in Sharquiyah in the desert sands and the initial school situated just north of Muscat close to Seeb, in an area known as Al Khoud and which is home base. In 2011, Mark was awarded an MBE in recognition of his services to intercultural understanding.

But above all, Mark is a veteran explorer. Of his many previous expeditions, the one closest to my heart was his 2016 journey following in the footsteps of Bertram Thomas, traveling on foot from Salalah in Southern Oman to Doha in Qatar. The resulting book, Crossing the Empty Quarter, is a testament to that incredible foray into the largest sand desert in the world with camels and two Omanis.

The Heart of Arabia expedition was of a different nature, Mark explained, bringing in many historical and personal elements. On the first leg of the journey, for example, Reem and the team were able to identify an acacia tree marking the precise location where her grandfather had faced Makkah and prayed as he made his way to Riyadh to meet with Ibn Saud.

Arriving in Riyadh, the expedition had been greeted by a host of dignitaries and given bishts, or farwars as they are also known. Not the black silk, gold-edged bisht as was bestowed upon Lionel Messi at the World Cup, but the traditional bishts of the desert, to ward off the cold in the depths of the winter nights when temperatures plummet uncomfortably.

The second half of the Heart of Arabia expedition began from D’iriyah, the old Saud Capital which has recently been lovingly restored, and followed Wadi Hanifa toward the Tuwaiq escarpment and the camel trails, once used by caravans from southern Arabia as a means of negotiating the imposing Tuwaig escarpment. Urging heavily laden camels having already crossed thousands of miles of desert up the face of the escarpment must have been an imposing task. At least Mark and Reem were walking down the trail and could enjoy watching hawks and eagles floating past effortlessly on rising air.

It’s difficult to imagine what lay ahead as they descended the escarpment and faced the difficult terrain they would cross before reaching Jeddah. The effort that goes into cross-country snowshoeing is minuscule in comparison to trudging through shifting sands often with no sure-footed surface beneath. The hips and knees get a super workout. By day’s end, I can feel the excruciating pain and soreness of limbs, no matter how well you train and build up for this type of expedition. Traveling by 4x4 wheel drive vehicle is how most of us enjoy the desert these days, but Mark’s expedition had a mission, and much of it would be on foot.

The desert terrain between Riyadh and Jeddah is a myriad of colors, geological textures, and dramatic scenery, from mountain peaks to gravel planes and sandy desert. There are enormous black basalt lava fields known as harrats and the high green mountains near Taif tumbling down onto the coastal plain and the port city of Jeddah make for an incredible vista. Nighttime temperatures drop dramatically during winter in the desert, well into the teens, but the overhead night sky puts on the best show in town, a spectacle that no drone could challenge, with billions of twinkling stars, meteorites, and Jupiter and Saturn clearly seen without any night pollution. Ana-Maria’s photographic equipment struggled with the temperature changes and the sand that crept into camera lenses, refusing to budge; yet she captured thousands of images that document the expedition in a spectacular fashion. Alan faced his own demons as rain fell and the desert tracks turned into sheer drudgery. Trying to make the wheels grip and turn as you twist and turn the steering wheel, in the hopes that you don’t sink in, is one’s worst nightmare. I can sympathize with the aches and pains at day’s end, as you slide into a sleeping bag, with the feeling that your arms have been pulled out of their sockets. At one point Mark sought shelter under an acacia tree with a blanket over his head to reduce the sound of the howling wind so he could record a podcast. Reem kept trudging on vigorously, taking antibiotics to fight a chest infection the other team members found debilitating.

The desert wind and rain often reduced visibility to less than 10 meters. I have experienced this harshness, where you just hunker down and sit it out as they did waiting for rains to dissipate and a new day to come. Many in the west may wonder why cover your head in such a harsh climate, but this is when the shaylah, koofeya or ghutra comes into its own, shading the face and nose from the harsh daily elements of wind, sand and sun along with every buzzing fly within a 10-kilometer radius who will seek you out to suck the moisture from your nostrils, eyes and any exposed skin.

Graffiti Rock is a destination many of us who lived in the Kingdom visited over the years, as it is not far from Riyadh, just below the Tuwaiq escarpment, and easily managed in a day trip by a 4x4. Like those who have gone before and will visit well into the future, Mark and the team marveled at the hundreds of rock art drawings at this site, which depict life some 3,000 to 8,000 years ago. There are images of ibex, gazelle, horses, camels, wolves, hunters with bows and arrows, and even ostrich which freely roamed the deserts up until one hundred years before being hunted into extinction.

Mark told me that having Philby’s writings to consult as the expedition proceeded added another dimension, allowing Mark and the team to appreciate the hardship Philby endured and to recognize both the differences and similarities with today. All of this contributed to a better understanding of Philby, the man.

Philby was described by many as one of the greatest explorers in Arabia. He was awarded the Royal Geographical Society’s Founders Medal, and his contribution made a huge difference to world geography. Other notable figures like Sir David Attenborough, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Tim Severin are also recipients of this accolade.

Several projects on the Heart of Arabia expedition involved collecting data to be analyzed by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Oxford University and the Saudi Arabian Geological Society.

In conjunction with KAUST, Reem’s camera traps captured the nocturnal creatures thanks to cans of smelly tuna fish set out far from camp. The success rate was 65% to 70% and while tracks of fox, jerboa and gerbil were recognized, the data collected will help researchers at KAUST conduct a more thorough study of desert wildlife.

The Green Arabia project, funded by the European Research Council, the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and the Max Planck Society, examines environmental change in the Arabian Peninsula over the last one million years. Mark’s team assisted in gathering data for the project by measuring and photographing the arrowheads, spear points and hammer stones they found on the desert floor during the expedition. These artifacts, thought to be hundreds of thousands of years old, were all left in situ, for further identification and mapping. Such finds will provide evidence of how early humans lived and hunted in the region when the Arabian Shield was green, fertile, and home to all manner of exotic plants and animals.

As we talked in his home in Muscat, Mark commented on one’s connection with nature when in isolation from other human beings, and how immensely connected one is with the sounds of nature, like hearing birdsong the first thing in the morning and last thing at night. “We are all endangered by hanging around shopping malls and losing that connection,” he said, before going on to explain how, in the desert, you are aware of the sunrise, sunset, the direction of the wind, and the ripples of the sand and how incredibly strong the connection with nature becomes, the more time you spend in the desert. I could relate to this sentiment and how difficult it is, after spending time in isolated regions in the desert, to return to western civilization and how lonely one feels, even when in a crowded room, and longing for the desert.

As the expedition neared Taif they realized their journey was coming to fruition. Perched in the highlands overlooking the Tihama plain, Taif was once the unofficial summer capital for government and known as the ‘city of roses’ for its production of rose oil and rose water. Beginning the final leg of their journey, the expedition made their way down to the Tihama plain and spent the night on the rocky terrain. It was one of the worst nights of their trip. It was impossible to find a flat spot and even when the obvious rocks and pebbles were cleared away, stones managed to protrude painfully into backs and hips. But they were compensated when they reached the valleys below and entered Wadi Limon, where Philby wrote about the lush tropical fruits, springs, banana plantations and fields of corn growing in these highlands. Here, Mark and the team encountered a man emerging from his home, curious to know who the travelers were. By chance, he relayed the story of his grandfather meeting Reem’s grandfather in this valley 105 years ago. What a poignant end to a journey that was less than a day away from the heart of Jeddah, the colorful city and melting pot of people who arrive here from far and wide destined for Makkah.

At journey’s end as Mark dipped his toe in the Red Sea and looked across toward Sudan, having begun the journey in Al Uquair looking across at Iran and Bahrain. His purpose for this journey was “to inspire young people to journey with purpose, like Philby, lift their heads from their phones and digest the world around them.” Amen to that!

For further insights into the Heart of Arabia expedition, please visit the expedition’s website and listen to Mark’s fascinating podcasts recorded en route.

Download the QR code embedded here in this article or visit www.heartofarabiaexpedition.com.

Camping with Camels: My Introduction to the Kingdom - Part I

About the Author: Brid Beeler first went to live in Saudi Arabia in 1989 and stayed for a decade. Her career then led her to live and work in Yemen and Oman and work for some of the world’s top travel companies. She currently heads Brid Beeler Travel (www.bridbeelertravel.com) and travels in and out of the Kingdom regularly on tour or collaborating on programs. She has traversed every corner of Arabia and is never happier than delving into the culture and treasures of the peninsula.

Brid began taking American travelers to Saudi Arabia in 1998 and, in addition to operating tours, she has trained guides, worked on award-winning documentaries, and written extensively on the region. In 2015, she was the Tour Director for the Smithsonian tour to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, which followed their internationally acclaimed Roads of Arabia exhibit.

She has presented papers on eco-tourism in the Middle East region and was one of only a handful of women invited by the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation & Development and the Supreme Commission for Tourism to speak at the first International Conference on Eco-Tourism in Saudi Arabia in 2002. She has written for Foreign Affairs and the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. In addition, she has published travel articles in Middle Eastern newspapers and spoken on Middle Eastern travel at embassy functions in Washington DC. A strong proponent of Middle Eastern art, culture and traditions, she has spoken on the ethnic silver jewelry of the Arabian Peninsula at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle.

Back home in Ireland, Brid enjoys walks on the beach with her latest saluki, Rishan.

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