Just a few days after Sue returned from New Zealand we had the tent on the roof of the car and headed into the desert.

We always seem to manage a different experience each time we visit, and this was no exception.

Since our first visit in 2009 we have seen fences erected, roads sealed and now discovered that previously open gates were locked and a sign informed us that this was the Qasr Al Sarab Conservation Area.

As we stopped to confirm that the gate was padlocked, a Land Cruiser with a strange looking hatch in the roof, pulled up alongside us. The driver informed us that entry was not allowed and when Nigel went over to talk to him he noticed a large machine gun mounted between the driver and passenger ready to swing up through the hole in the roof. Clearly they are taking conservation very seriously!

After a protracted conversation in broken English we think we were told to head further down the road and we would be able to find somewhere to camp. So as the the Land Cruiser/tank followed a track along the security fence we continued towards the Saudi border only to be thwarted by a sign saying no civilian vehicles. We turned back and followed the tank thinking that they would be doing a perimeter circuit and that we would be able turn away from the fence and into the desert without seeing them again.

We were wrong. Our friendly armed guards were slightly less impressed to meet us for a second time as they came back along the track in the opposite direction.

Another protracted conversation, supplemented by a phone call to an unknown third party, yielded the same result. We could not camp anywhere here. But all was not lost. The driver told us to follow him and he would show us where to camp. We followed.

Just a few kilometres back along the main road he stopped at the security gate for another fenced off area. The signs here indicated that it was the access point for several oil rigs of a particular oilfield but our friendly guard indicated that we should go in. We pointed out that the barrier was closed but were told that this was not a problem, it would open for us. We drone tentatively towards the automated barrier and, sure enough, it duly opened and we headed into some spectacular iron-red dunes.

Were we supposed to be here? We have no idea. Did we have a fabulous evening in the desert? Absolutely. Will we come back? Who knows? But we are confident that our next trip to the desert will be a completely different experience just like every other one!