Desert environment includes actual desert, some water (yes, I said that), some (dusty) city scenes, some POSSIBLY shiny buildings and pools of water.
The research on this suggests that ND polarizers are better. I'm asking this pre-purchase, so my knowledge is purely theoretical until I get the practice; in short, it seems that dropping the light coming in with the ND filter gives you more flexibility if you want to open up the aperture, shoot against the sun (say, with some external lighting), and so on.
But desert environments are sunny, and the sun is high up, so stuff reflects. Since stuff reflects, depending on the stuff being shot (such as the water in the list above), a polarizing filter might be helpful.
Based on YOUR experience in the field, which of these filter types might lend to more flexibility in the field?
Or is there something else that went unmentioned (like NOT using a filter)?
Note, by "better" I mean in terms of maximum flexibility / variety in the field where it's likely to be sunny, bright, sandy, and .. desert-y. Expected conditions, unknown subject matter.