http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Egypt , Western Desert en-us Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:27:11 BST Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:27:11 BST Saturday 30th AugustWhat a day today we travelled from Alexandria to Siwa. Our first stop was Al Alamein battle field cemetery and Military museum the cemetery was very beautiful peaceful and well maintained. Reading some inscriptions on the headstones and being in the hot dry desert where the young Australian men had fought and lost there lives was a very moving experience. The drive follow http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Siwa-Oasis/blog-317193.html Siwa is great It is a small desert community that had no road until 1980 so things are still very old Egypt. There are donkeys everywhere the women were covered from head to toe face too and every morning everyone lines up at the bakery to collect their flatbread for the day including me. It is only 90km from the Libya border and in the middle of the desert. I was told by a Canadian g http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Siwa-Oasis/blog-281459.html Disconnected is one of many words that could be used to describe the Egyptian transport infrastructure hopelessly inefficient is another good way of describing it. We were lucky to score a night train ticket out of Luxor and into Cairo although we had to pay extra to catch the train originating in Aswan even though we were boarding in Luxor as the train originating in Luxor had been sold out http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Siwa-Oasis/blog-278415.html This day marked our journey across the desert and our night under the stars. It was amazing scenery along the way and we made a few stops including Sand Dunes Volcano Mountain The Black Desert The Obstacles lunch at Haez Crystal Mountain The Flowers and Fossils The Old White Desert Mushroom Rocks and the New White Desert which had Chicken Rock and was our final camping spot for the nig http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/blog-275072.html 8408It was another long day on the road. We had anhellip early start just for something new and hopped on the bus. Ten hours later after passing some pretty amazing Mediterranean coastline we arrived in the Oasis town of Siwa. First impression was that it was a pretty small and barren town but delightfully first impressions arenrsquot always right.We first headed up to the site of t http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Siwa-Oasis/blog-274406.html The plan was head east to Jordan for Petramdash one of the Modern Wonders of the World. Arastoo and I were all set to go at least in theory. We both agreed we wanted to go there but then I checked a schedule and we realized that we had missed the boat literally across the Red Sea into Jordan. I returned to my map of Egypt and decided to search for someone to go to Siwa with me. Siwa is an oa http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Siwa-Oasis/blog-273024.html After months of planning and weeks and days of stressful pretrip preparations I finally departed for my first 4 day field trip as the teacher instead of the student Ever since I arrived in Egypt I have had the idea of taking the high school students to the Western Desert as part of their PE class. Part of the high school curriculum requires students to learn about physical activity in an alt http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Baharia/blog-267588.html Absolute full credit to those explorers who trekked through the desert exploring and mapping It's really really hot really really dusty and sandy and very hard work. And I did it in a truck The heat wave has continued here and we've just spend three nights and four days in the Western Desert. It's been absolutely amazing. Stunning scenery distant horizons and more types of rock formation http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/blog-260074.html There is no good way to describe what I did this weekend. I tried a few times to write down everything I did and saw but each time I did I left something out or felt I wasnrsquot doing everything justice. The desert is a difficult place to describe. Having only the preconceived notions of deserts like cacti sand and camels I had relatively low expectations about my one night in the desert b http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/blog-252052.html After camping in the white desert we took the bus a few hours southwest to another oasis called Dakhla. apparantly there has only been one day of rain in the last 14 years one of the many interesting facts our guide desert fox told us. we usually never have guides or sign up for tours one of the many luxuries or not you have to opt out on when travelling on a budget. but you cant stay a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Dakhla-Oasis/blog-249597.html There are four main oasis's in the Western Desert on route from Cairo lower egypt and Luxor upper egypt with everything from hotsprings white sand black sand deserts date fig and olive trees to ancient mud and brick cities. It sounds much better than it actually was We took a bus from Cairo five hours south to the Bahariah Oasis. Immediately after getting off the bus we found ourselve http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Dakhla-Oasis/blog-249306.html Did we forget to mention that we don't have a truck When we arrived in Egypt we were supposed to connect with another Dragoman truck that had been shipped from Mombasa. The truck made it to Suez where it remains stuck in customs while the codriver is negotiating with the minister of tourism to release it. Rather than wait in Cairo we set off on our intended desert oasis route in a minivan a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/blog-234576.html We have now established a rhythm to our camping. We try and find a place at about 4 pm sun sets at 5.30 which leaves enough time to get sorted do any dhobi tend to any small car problems and get supper started. We eat early and go to bed early very early by our normal UK timing Then we get up very early at about 6 am when the sun is just about to poke its head above the rim of the http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Dakhla-Oasis/blog-213983.html So last Thursday we left for the Siwa Oasis out in the Sahara Desert sorry but do you know how cool that sounds to be able to say that I've been out in the Sahara near the Libyan Border. It was a 9 hour bus ride so we took it at night so that it wouldn't be so hot compared to if we traveled during the day. We had no plans except that we knew we wanted to do a desert safari. We arrived at 5am http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/blog-204197.html Egypt Overlandin appreciation of perspectives people and places Well the title says it all....and what magic memories they wereare The White Desert was definitely a major highlight .... After driing for hours across the Western desert we came to this magical landsape.... Off road we went....winding through the meringue tops till we found a nice flatish area to camp.... laid out our sleep http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/blog-169679.html AsyutOasis CircuitCairoTom GriffithSahara Desert In Arabic sahara means 'desert'. So Sahara Desert simply means 'Desert Desert'. Best stick with plain old Sahara I reckon. This immense stretch of sand rocks dunes and nothingness reaches from the shores of Mauritania and Morocco all the way to the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. It is not so much one desert as many different ones overlapping and http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/blog-144602.html Christmas Eve in Alexandria saw me stroll along the Mediterranean eating considerable amounts of icecream and it afforded me the opportunity to walk to the site of the Pharos Lighthouse the fifth of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World I have visited. My final journey in Egypt was about to commence and it would take me to a place I had heard much about. So on Christmas Day I boarded a bus http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Western-Desert/Siwa-Oasis/blog-37782.html