24-Jun-2006 -- Continued from 30N 11E.

Making an early start from our campsite at 30°13'43"N 11°54'23"E, we followed the main road in the direction of al-Qaryat al-Šarqiyya, and continued eastward into the rising sun. We watched the flat and empty desert to our south carefully for signs of suitable tracks heading in our desired direction. There were few but the desert surface looked easy enough to traverse.

Within an hour, with the temperature already into the high Twenties Celsius and the sun not yet at anywhere near full force, we turned off the main road and drove in an almost straight line directly to our next target at 30N 12E. Individual and sometimes multiple vehicle tracks crossed our path, getting fewer and fewer the deeper we penetrated into the desert.

Forty kilometers across shimmering, open, almost pool table flat terrain, we reached our intended confluence point. Featureless, like so many other areas in the vicinity. We took our record of it with a photograph of our GPS screen, pictures of the four cardinal points and, with the temperature already climbing to 30° Celsius, returned to our vehicle and its welcome air conditioner.

The Google map we had studied in preparation for this journey showed a strange formation a short distance (approx 12 km) NE of this Confluence but since we felt we could already be in forbidden 'oil territory' (for which we needed a 'desert pass') we decided not to push our luck by going to have a look. From all the other indications around, we estimated that it was only a water well.

Continued at 30N 13E.