Fayoum - Lake Qarun

  Shakshouk, Egypt
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

We were stopped at a baricade at El Faiyoum.  There are 4 smokers and we got off the bus and we became the tourist attraction.  They do not see tourists very often in this area.  They were staring at my blonde hair and at Mum, Lily and I smoking.  Females in Egypt rarely smoke.

The women here are covered from top to bottom with many having only the eyes visible.

The kids were shy to start but after I spoke a few Arabic words they came closer.  Very soon we had a crowd.  Too many to hand out badges.

Finally our police escort was arranged and we were off again.  There were 6 policeman in a ute and they were fully armed with machine guns.  The tour guide told us that it was to ensure a quicker passage as they could flash their lights if anyone got in our way.  The horn on the bus seemed to work perfectly fine so we didn't believe for a minute that this was why we needed an escort.

We arrived at the lakeside town of Shakshouk (This was the name on the front of the Hotel) but they call the area the Faiyum Oasis.  Lake Qarun is the largest lake in Egypt (about 22km by 5km).  It is salt water.

View from our Balcony

Our hotel is right on the lakeside.  One half of the lake is built up with towns but the other half is desert.  We had a great view of the lake from our room and watched the sun set

Sunset over Lake Qarun

with background music, being the call to prayer.  In the country it is not recorded and you could hear the chanting echoing all around the lake.  It was really quite beautiful.

The room here is huge (suitable for a family).  It has a real medditerranean feel to it.  Alot better than Cairo accommodation.

Oh, I don't think that I mentioned previously that you can't flush toilet paper anywhere in Egypt, their pipes get blocked if you do! Good thing that we brought the nappy sacks!