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Classic Egypt
Sinai, Bedouin Style
Black and White Desserts
Red Sea Relaxation Breaks
Jordon and Petra
Alexandria
Yoga and Meditation Breaks
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Egypt Spiritual Tours
Black and White Desserts
Black
and White Desserts - more info coming soon
DAKHLA
The remote and genuine oasis
Dakhla is the oasis that lies furthest off the main
settlements of Egypt. Unlike many other oases, it is
situated above sea level, as high as 122 metres.
Still it is fed by more than 520 springs and ponds.
75,000 people live in 14 different settlements, each
strong local identities and customs.
Only
Mut and Al-Qasr qualifies as towns. Before the road
came here, Dakhla must have felt like a planet of
its own, where only few inhabitants ever came as far
as to the neighbouring oases Kharga and Farafra.
The name "Magic Spring" is a touristic
invention, something I discovered when trying to
locate it without professional help. Most locals
from the nearby village hadn't a clue what and where
about any magical spring.
But
we found it, and it is worth the effort. Big and
small bubbles continuously pop on the surface of
this pond which functions as the beginning of a
lazy, little stream.
Many
oasis springs are now drained by modern equipment;
the Magic Spring illustrates exactly the process
that has made Dakhla into a green spot with sand
dunes on all sides. The water is supposed to be
clean and good to drink.
Balat village
FARAFRA
The isolated oasis
With only 4,000 inhabitants and about 200 km to the first neighbour
settlement, Farafra is among the most isolated places in Egypt. It is
part of the Western Desert circuit, so it still gets many visitors. And
the place has a number of attractions, of which the adjacent White
Desert is one of Egypt's most famous nature sights.
The architecture of
Farafra is the old and ingenious one, where mud brick houses stand close
together, with narrow roads with roofs. Many of the houses have painted
exteriors with murals.
Many traditions live
on in Farafra — traditions that die when locals in towns like this move
into nondescript "modern" box houses. Dresses and shirts have beautiful
embroidery, but little is available for visitors with hard cash. Of
products for sale, olives and olive oil are of high quality here. In
addition, there is a rich output of vegetables and fruits, including
bananas, mangos and guavas.
Most visitors to
Farafra take at least one swim in the many hot springs in town. Female
visitors should respect local traditions, and bathe only in the
afternoons.
Keyhole-shaped wells seem to have a double meaning and function. The
function is to create a twirl in the water stream that allows oxygen
into the water which is purifying. The meaning is the obvious, the
keyhole symbolizes the opening to the water reservoir.
FARAFRA
Holy tomb
This unnamed tomb has a dome which rather visibly reflects female
fertility. While many tombs of this kind are actually built around the
graves of holy Muslim men and women, some have roots back to pre-Islamic
times.
What makes this
intriguing is that it is very well-kept, apparently in full use, but not
painted in white, which is almost obligatory.
About 45 km north of Farafra, the White Desert
begins. It is truly white, in clear contrast
with the yellow desert elsewhere. At night, and
many of the organized trips out here include
overnight stay out in the desert, it gets a
character reminding of an Arctic landscape.
The rock formations of the desert are often
quite dramatic, and you should not miss out on
the weird rock balancing on top of a white
pillar (see picture above).
CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN
Sparkling like diamonds
The name "mountain" is result of Arabic
speakers using the word for mountain also for
formations that are really small. The Crystal
Mountain is not really a mountain, rather a rock
or ridge.
But
"crystal" is a correct description, and a stop
here is definitely worth the time. Resembling
the crystals of the Superman movies, the quartz
crystals manage to fascinate most visitors.
Although you should not break off crystals from
the rock, there are plenty of loose crystals
spread around on the ground. Walking away from
the most frequented parts, there are crystal
lumps as big as footballs.
There
is also a natural arch here, man-high.
BLACK DESERT
Windblown and volcanic
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Last changed
03/07/2011 |
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