Chapter 28Iraqi DesertThere was little to say about the next five days.
Looking back, if I thought the trek across the An Nafud had been difficult,
the Iraqi section of the Western Desert was twice as arduous.
While the daytime weather often cooled to thirty
degrees, at night the temperatures dropped below zero. Added to our
discomfort, there was little wood for a warming fire and most of the meals
were cold and unpalatable.
Our route was made all the more demanding by the need to
steer clear of main roads. For obvious reasons, we didn’t want to
encounter any military patrols. After two days, we reached the Wadi Al
Ubayyid. Its steep sides caused us to journey further east to find a spot
where we could descend to the valley floor.
We continued eastwards in the direction of Karb
