On the final stages of our desert adventure, when we were once more within reach of civilisation and camel husbandry, one of the smaller vehicles (it was a red one - I'm a woman, how else might I describe it?) bounced with particular violence over a small hummock and it's bottom fell off.

When we stopped to help pick up the debris, a liquid stream was also noticed coming from the radiator area. The men crawled underneath to have a look, and the women wandered off to photograph camels. Then we noticed some locals approaching. A young boy - about 7 years old - joined the men and stared at the stricken 4WD; a girl of about the same age stared at us.

A short distance behind them, a small female group were equally curious, but kept their distance. The matriarch, probably near my age, was trying to get the children away, but her calls of 'Ta'ala' were ignored. So she gave in to her own curiosity, took a camera from the folds of her gown and began to take photos of our group!

I hasten to insert here that we were all decently clad by European standards, in long trousers and in most cases long sleeves, but I expect we were a contrast for her, as she was dressed in a long 'thob' and 'hijab' with a traditional emirati face mask.

mask

This isn't her - her mask was similar to this, but when we asked to reciprocate the 'compliment' and take their photos, they vehemently refused, but did beckon us women up for a chat. We exchanged courtesies and eyed each other with interest. One of our number spoke a bit more arabic than me, and what turned out to be the woman's oldest daughter spoke some English. She was also bolder - although traditionally dressed, she did not cover her face, unlike her two adolescent sisters, who wore no masks, but kept a fold of their hijabs carefully clutched across their lower faces.

It turned out they were from Wagan, and were also camping out in the desert for the weekend. Far from being uneducated bedouin, the young woman was a recent university graduate in architecture, and worked in the city. When one of our group came with sweets for the children, a daughter was immediately dispatched over the hill to their camp and after the mother had re-inforced her wishes via her mobile phone, returned with a huge basket of mixed fruits, and offered them to us. We spent a few minutes exchanging pleasantries and explanations of who we all were, to our mutual satisfaction. Then the men finished dealing with the car and our meeting was drawn to a close with further courteous phrases. We waved to each other as we drew off, all happy with our cultural interaction.