Bedouin Prince of the Baharia Oasis

Ok, he's not really a prince, but in the community of the Baharia Oasis, Tammer is a very influential man and I'm betting that one day he will be their leader. I was fortunate to be invited to dinner at his house, to hear him play flutes that he created himself, to crash a wedding party, and to go to a club where he and friends played amazing Bedouin music for much of the night.It was an unforgetable day and one that I don't think you will find in any of the travel guides. I learned firsthand that Bedouin hospitality is both magical and real.
Stay tuned for picures of all of the above plus pictures of other desert adventures.
As for now, I'm getting looks from the staff of the Winter Palace in Luxor where I am "borrowing" wifi to send this to you.
More when I get back to Cairo in 2 weeks.
Stay warm if you are in any of the snowy or cold areas.

Bedouin Owner's of Egypt's Western Desert

Prior to this trip I had no idea that the Bedouins literally own the desert. I've read about them being the traveling nomads throughout the middle eastern deserts, but when you travel the one desert highway south through Egypt, each of the five oasis towns belong to Bedouin families. When you stay in a hotel in the oasis, you are enjoying a part of the centuries of desert hospitality that is part of the Bedouin code.
This was written on one of the hotel walls -
"A guest is always welcome. The nomad believe any guest is a guest of God who is warmly welcomed as being brought by God....to be nice to this guest is to honor God."

Egypt's Western Desert-Journey's End

The distance between Cairo in the north, following the Nile south to Luxor, is about 500 miles. If you take the long way through the one road traveling through the western desert, it's almost 1,000 miles.
After 4 days and lots of yellow, white and black sand, I've arrived in Luxor - a large tourist town, known for it's 4000 year old tombs of the ancient Kings and Queens. It does not however, have a lot of WiFi, so I'm sitting in the lobby of the Winter Palace, the most exclusive place in town. This is where heads of countries stay when they are in town. It may have the only wifi in the city, so I'm sitting here, trying to look like the other tourists waiting to check in. I forgot that it is one of the few places with a dress code and I'm sitting here in jeans.