Baharia...

  Baharia Oasis, Egypt
Saturday, October 13, 2007

Plan: This is the longest drive of our trip-- rumoured at 10 hours on the old road, but it has since been modernized, so hopefully a lot shorter. Aside from the flight, this is when Ben's Ipod will most come in handy. I might use this stretch to update our trip to this point if we have been really busy... I can't imagine being up to much by the time we arrive in Baharia.
Hotel: TBA

A Warm Welcome

This was by far one of our longest drives on the trip. After saying good-bye to Farouk and meeting our next driver Imun, we were in line for the seven car convoy at 8am. The Egyptian government is attempting to improve the road, but it is a constant battle against the elements. Image trying to build a fixed structure- road, on a moving surface- sand.

The trip was bumpy the entire way, but somehow it didn't drag on as long as the earlier drives, more entertaining perhaps?

I was taking a video to demostrate how rough the ride actually was, and panned from my window, past the driver, past the passenger and back. On the first pass, there was a side mirror, by the time I came back, it was gone-- first desert road casualty.

Before you think anything really disasterous happened, the only other car mishap was running out of break fluid. It sounds a lot worse than it was because our driver was a champ, but he hit a divet harder than he wanted to which made Rado bang his head really hard.

The best part of the whole drive had to be the lunch in the sand dunes. Perched on the edge of the Great Sand Sea, it was awe-inspring to take a look around and see nothing other than sand and sky. Imun made a great lunch, tasting all that much better because of the venue.

It was 4pm before we reached Baharia... a long day. We settled into our room and noted the provided mosquito net.

Having nothing really to do in the evening, I introduced Wael and Rado to Milles Borne. Oh my, who would have known the hit this game would become... We actually played three full hands where neither team finished a trip, something I have never seen, let alone seen three times in a row.

The next morning, Wael complained that he dreamed about getting a "repair" card that we had so desperately needed in one of the games the night before.

There are five main sites in Baharia, we checked out the Golden Mummies, which would probably be more impressive if they were better preserved and displayed. A couple of tombs of rich local merchants which were a good example of the tomb construction and art of the time. We also visited the Bes Temple, which was also the first time (outside the pyramids) we had to share a monument with other tourists. It got a little ridiculous when one tagged on to our lecture and even tried to ask Rado questions.

By far the most impressive visits were the more natural sites. Having our own car and driver has certainly provided us with the ability to go over-road to more local monuments not covered in your typical travel guide (by this time it was no longer Imun, but Mohamed, and family friend of Wael's.) We visited a remote part of Crystal mountain, we got a great view of Pyramid mountain, and Cresent Rock. We will come back with some great pictures and interesting specimens. Our extra suitcase is going to be filled with rocks- sorry Ben.

We enjoyed our time here, but one of the most noteable experiences had nothing to do with monuments, but the local children. First, the number of kids out and about, seemingly on their own is surprising, but in Baharia (nowhere else that we have noted so far) have the kids been as friendly or welcoming. We did not pass a single one that didn't stop whatever he/she was doing to shout out "Hell-o" in our direction- often more than once.

Next on the agenda: desert camping.

-Ash