Chapel From Early Coptic Chapel

Early Christian Cemetary

Near one of the Oases is a large Christian burial area from the first century AD, complete with the remains of a beautiful chapel. I didn't expect to find anything like it in the Western Egyptian desert.

Tea Time

At one of the Oases we stopped for tea and this kitty jumped into my lap. Notice my new white lucite ring given to me by a Bedouin widow as well as the red string that was given to me by a Rabbi in Jerusalem. I consider it a complete set.

Detailed Work in the Ghost Village

Restoring a Ghost Village

Mud bricks dry in the sun before being used to repair the walls of this ancient deserted village. We were the only people there and could easily have spent a week exploring it.

Ghost Village

An entire village from 100s of years ago contained wooden lintels over the doors, describing the past owners and the builders.

The Bedouin Connection

My guidebook states that if you want to see the most direct link to the people who lived at the time of the Pharoahs - you look at the Bedouins. They have maintained their 1000s of years of traditions including strict traditions concerning marriage.

View From Oasis Hotel - Egypt

Stop for Gas

The Desert Taking Back Its Own

The tiny shape of a guy on a motorbike can hardly be seen as the sandstorm tries to reclaim the land taken by the highway.

Lunar Landscape of the White Desert

The White Desert

It is often described as something out of Alice in Wonderland. The white shapes created by nature seem impossible and some actually look like animals.

Desert Visitors

For the entire 4 day trip through the Western Desert of Egypt we met only one other tour group - this jeep convoy of about 50 people. We also ran into a guide who was looking for a small group of people who had gone out into the desert on camels. He had temporarily lost contact with them, but no one seemed worried.

Yellow and Black Desert

Stone Caves

Hardship in the Desert

We had lunch and shopped at this woman's place. She is a widow with four kids and numerous relatives she supports. I ate and shopped and we exchanged cheap jewlery. I gave her my 25 cent bamboo bracelet from Cambodia and she gave me a 50 cent white lucite ring with red chili peppers painted on it, which I now wear proudly.

More Music - More Tea

As the evening wore on we found ourselves at the club house of a local hotel where Tammer and an impromptu band played for most of the evening. The floor is sand that is covered with rugs, except for a place for an open fire in the middle of the room. There is a hole in the roof for the smoke but it didn't draft well. Everything had an eerie glow to it while the band played traditional Bedouin music. It was an amazing evening and much tea was consumed.

Crashing the Batchelor Party

Tammer was scheduled to play at a bachelor party the evening we were visiting, so he dragged us all along. Just as it is in Laos, it is supposed to bring good luck if a stranger comes to your wedding. The couple should have a great life because Tammer brought all 3 of us.

Desert Snow

It does look like snow except that it's 110 degrees F.

Tea Time in the White Desert

Western Desert Landscape

Desert Dining

Adel, Tammer and moi enjoying wondrous desert cooking. (and more tea).

Bedouin Julia Childs

One evening we had a 7 course meal (and tea) cooked on this single fire. It was the best food I've had on the entire trip.

Tea Time in the Oasis

At least 6 times a day, it's time to stop everything for tea. You throw down a rug, start a fire and brew a pot, which you share with anyone who happens to be there. To my right in the picture is my guide Adel and to my left is driver extraordinaire Heesham. Tourists cannot legally travel through the western desert alone and they kept me safe and informed. In the 4 day trip there were at least 20 border stops where an army official had to see all our papers and hear an explanation of what we were doing there. Some of the border stops were out in the desert 100 miles from anything and I think the guards were just happy to talk to anyone. There was always a lot of chatting in Arabic and then everyone would look at me and then more chatting in Arabic and more looks at me. Depending on the isolation of the post - this would take a while.

Desert Cruising in the Egyptian Western Desert

Part of the tour through the western desert is riding in a jeep that the driver treats like a skateboard - riding up and over the rims of giant sand bowls at top speeds. Then there is the high speed turn and skid through the sand....
A quick apology here for the arabic message in my last blog entry. I was trying to email an update from Luxor and it must have gone through the Arabic blogspot. Whatever technology happened, the message was translating by itself into Arabic as I wrote it in English. It's an amazing invention, but I had no way of turning it off.