Oasis weekend

I've been a bit harried over the past week, with longer and more productive days at the hospital and lots of supplementary reading to be done. Anyway, I've had some free time these past couple of days, so I've written up my experiences of our last weekend, to the Bahariyya and Farafra Oases. It was probably the best short trip we've had so far.

Bahariyya and Farafra are two of five isolated desert oases in the Western (or Libyan) Desert, a massive area that starts on the western banks of the Nile and stretches well into Libya. They are havens of life in a region that for the most part is seemingly uninhabitable, with an abundance of flora, fauna and fresh fruit and vegetables. with the oases' towns wonderfully unique mud-brick architecture and their relaxed pace of life, it was a special way to spend the weekend, and those of us on the exchange and summer school groups finally got the chance to bond.

We left for the 330km journey to Bahariyya on Thursday afternoon, and after a short stop in the principal town, Bawiti, we drove to the middle of the desert to watch the sunset. It was really stunning, probably an even better panorama than the setting I watched in the Dakhla Oasis with the Assiut Summer School because this time there were dunes and dunes of golden sand in every direction. Then we had a classic Bedouin dinner out in the open, with grilled chicken, spiced yoghurt and mixed salad, before a night sleeping under the stars. It was unforgettable. The atmosphere there is so clear of light pollution that it was like lying under a canvas of charcoal speckled with thousands upon thousands of glittering diamonds. We even saw a few shooting starts before sunrise.

The next morning, after a traditional breakfast with some of the freshest fuul (mashed fava beans with salad eaten in unleavened bread) I've tasted in Egypt, we left for the Black Desert. This is an area where the desert literally turns black, having been formed over thousands of years as wind eroded small black, volcano shaped mountains found in the area. We climbed a few of these and I've got some stunning pics, but getting down was a real problem. The terrain was a bit treacherous and small stones kept on dislodging and tumbling down the mountainside with every step we took. There were five of us that got to the top and we ended up having to each try different descent routes before deciding on the safest option. We eventually made it down from the highest peak after an hour; the ascent only took twenty minutes.

Following the delay, we were taken to El-Moufid lake, an isolated spot in the middle of the desert and "a special place for swimming", our guide assured us. The drive there was rough and, being in the open roofed jeep, we were completely caked in dust and white chalk when we got there. In fact, I looked like a granddad when I got out, and was looking forward to a refreshing dip in the water. Only it looked more like a swamp. The lake was strangled with algae and there were these small grey creatures (we couldn't decide if they were fish, larvae, frogs or filth) floating in the water. We were all a bit apprehensive about swimming there, but we ended up taking the plunge. The feeling was that we'd spent the past month learning all about Egypt's different tropical diseases but now it was our practical - time to acquire a few of them! (Un?)fortunately it doesn't seem like any of us have.

After a quick lunch we drove to the White Desert, where we spent our second night. The White Desert, known to locals as Sahra al-Beida, is the most otherworldly region I've ever been to. It's an expanse of these eerie white rock formations that, shaped by wind erosion, take on all kinds of surreal forms - I saw giant mushrooms, camels, sliced spheres and poncho hats - in the middle of this seemingly never-ending expanse of sand. And then, as we climbed a nearby canyon to watch the sunset, the chalk gradually appeared more and more orange and then pink. It was only a pity that we weren't there on the night of a full moon, when the desert is said to take on an arctic appearance.

We finished dinner, and then we were treated to a night of Bedouin entertainment. Even since I was nine and my schoolteacher brought back a camelhair rug for our class after she'd been on a desert holiday in the Sahara I'd wondered what life was like for such nomadic and relatively isolated groups, and that night we were given a glimpse. Reenergised by the hashish that they smoked before the performance, out guide Talat and his friends played and danced to traditional drum and reed melodies half the night. We were sitting round they campfire they had built, and accompanied the performers with handclapping before we couldn't keep up with their stamina and spent another cold night sleeping under the stars.

Sunday was our final day of the trip, and there was still a lot to see. We were first driven to a place called Agabat, famous for its 'flower stones'. These are collections of deep black iron pyrite crystals that have somehow clumped together to form these wonderful floral patterns, and they are strewn all across the valley floor. Alas they are very dense so I couldn't collect many, but I have brought a few back to show you all.

After another quick mountain climb, it was time to head back to the Bahariyya Oasis for lunch, which was to be our final meal of the trip. Our driver, however, had other ideas. My namesake was a bit of a cowboy, and kept taking us on these long (and fun) off-the-road detours and up and down big sand dunes. Once, however, he made a bit of a miscalculation and didn't approach the peak of a dune fast enough. As a result we were stuck in the sand, and the fact that it was so soft meant that the more wheel spin the driver created, the deeper we were entrenched, and we ended up having to all clamber out and push. It was only a couple of minutes or so until we were on the move again, but it was enough for us to imagine all sorts of totally implausible outcomes. Before we saw the jeep glide forward again we had already decided that, being so far off the beaten track and having no radio, flares or a mobile phone with reception, we would have to spend the night in the vehicle. Our only call for help would be to flash our headlights and play a cassette of Amr Diab (an Egyptian pop sensation) really really loudly until someone came to investigate. Sadly just half an hour later we were back in Bawiti, amidst a population of thirty thousand. We had a nice meal in a secluded wooden spot before heading over to Talat's house to say goodbye to our desert team. It was like a study in contrasts, just as the peace and tranquility of the Western Desert was to the hustle, bustle and urgency of the capital city, which we got back to four hours later. Yep, it's anarchic here and the people are sometimes relentless in their pursuit of foreigners and their wallets, but I'm glad to be back. I still haven't seen lots of the sights here nor been to many of the recommended areas, and the next few afternoons will be really busy as we try to fit everything in before the start of our post-training tour. This, like the trip I wrote to you about following the Assiut training program, is organised by the summer school committee here to give us a taste of Egypt and its many faces. I'll be returning to Aswan and Luxor with them, before moving up to Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab and Mt Sinai. It should be spectacular, and I'll tell you about it soon.

Yours,
Moc