Siwa - desert adventures Mk II

  Siwa Oasis, Egypt
Saturday, February 25, 2006

Siwa Oasis - fallout from the dust storm 25/2

I'd heard that Siwa Oasis, the most far-flung Oasis in the Western Desert out near the Libyan border, was a place worth visiting so I continued on my merry way from El Alamein to reach it. This meant a couple of rides in small local microbuses via Daba to Marsa Matrouh, then a four hour bus ride around the Qattara Depression and across the flattest, driest and bleakest land I'd encountered in my time in Egypt.

The only thing out here was a couple of oil rigs, some crumbling and abandoned mud-brick shanties, and surprisingly, a couple of spots of rain at the rest stop two hours before arriving in Siwa. Some sort of vertical mirage you may think? No, definitely rain.



Making it after dark, I didn't get to explore or appreciate the town that evening. It looked substantial despite being this remote and so had some potential for sights in and around the settlement. However, to my choking consternation the next morning, the whole place was covered in a pall of dust which almost blotted out the sun and made life uncomfortable to say the very least. Expeditions to the desert for things like sandboarding and snorkelling in the small springs (they even offer diving here) would have to wait.



So I wandered around town - checking out the mosque, some old tomb sites cut into a central sandstone hillock and the main feature - the jagged ruins of the medieval Fortress of Shali. I have no details as to their origins or purpose but they do make a prominent central feature to the town.



To be honest it was hard to tell where the ruins stopped and the current homes started. Date farming, spring water and tourism are about the only sources of income for the community and from what it seemed to me, most people here are still desperately poor despite these potentially lucrative revenues. When donkey carts outnumber vehicles three-to-one you know people are living on the edge.



The dust seemed to be getting thicker and the residents had a crazy look in their eye that did not bode well. I met some younger locals that didn't look as menacing as the rest and got some pictures of the few photogenic features around, but beat a hasty retreat to my room in the end, hoping for fresher and brighter days ahead.



It wasn't to be however - next day was just as murky so again expeditions further afield were cancelled. I also knew that I wasn't going to see the oasis of my dreams so deciding to cut my losses and use the time more productively elsewhere, I took an early bus out - only to find that the dust cloud followed me all the way back to Alexandria around 600km to the east! Blerkk!

You wouldn't think it but out of all the weather I've experienced on this journey this dust cloud has to be the most depressing by far, which is a shame because there is probably some great stuff to see and do around Siwa. There probably won't be a next time for me but don't let this account stop you going out there if you're in the area, such dust storms are pretty infrequent (2-3 times per year).

Next entry -> traversing Egypt to the eastern Sinai - destination Dahab

Words from the Wise #61

Probably quite relevant right now actually...

"If you can't see any obstacles in your path, it probably doesn't lead anywhere."
Frank Clarke compliments of my Dad :)