From Siwa to Bahariya

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Siwa is a truly magical place, and I spent the next three days cycling the dusty palm fringed tracks, watching the sun set over ancient ruins, beating the locals at backgammon, and enjoying the laid back charms of the place. It reminded me of Darjeeling - a few tourists dotted about town, friendly locals, peaceful after the bedlam of Cairo/Kolkata, and blues skies and clean air. But all good things come to an end, and with a heavy (but expectant) heart, it was time to leave the dusty little oasis, and head on a overnight bus to Cairo, and from there to Bahariya - another desert oasis, on the edge of the White Desert which I've been wanting to visit since first hearing about it on this site ten months ago.

I jumped aboard the overnight bus (this time with enough clothes to survive an Arctic expedition) hoping to put my mp3 player on and gt my head down to sleep. Unfortunately Jacob, the man sat next to me, had other plans. As i pulled my brown-paper-covered guidebook out of my bag, a large smile spread across his face. "Holy Bible?" he said expectantly. "No, Guide Book" i replied. "Holy Bible?" he replied, to which I had to explain the book by flicking through, and saying a variety of Egyptian place names. Disheartened by this, he then borrowed by phrasebook, and pointed first to me, and then to "Christian", at which I nodded, upon which he burst into joy. As his name gives away, Jacob isn't a Muslim but a Coptic Christan. Seemingly over-joyed that the realization that I wasn't a Muslim, Jacob then reached into his bag to get his laptop, and preceeded to show me photos of his church, of a church convention he had been to, and indeed anything else he could find on his hard-drive.

I don't think my false enthusiasm was convincing him, so to keep me impressed he navigated to the 'Movies' folder. My heart lifted at the thought of watching an English-speaking film, for the first time in a month. And then my heart broke as he clicked on 'Evan Almighty' - the tragically bad, Steve Carell/Noah movie. Suddenly, a long journey got even longer. I just about survived the 1hour40 with my brain still functioning , but did question the existence of a higher-being that could allow such soul-destroyingly bad films into the world. This time my fake enthusiasm must have been more convincing as, smiling, Jacob then went to put on an American reenactment of the book of Jeremiah. Now, I'll go along with someone to keep them happy and save face for so long. But this was just one step too far I'm afraid. Luckily it was 1am, and tiredness was my reprieve. I awoke in Cairo, the seat next to me now empty, and hoped it was all just a dream. Deep down however, I know I'll never get that 1hour40 of my life back. (No matter how nice Jacob was.)

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