Oases in western Egypt

In the spring of 2004 I took a most exciting and unusual trip to Egypt. Instead of just visiting the tourist sites in Cairo and Luxor, four companions and I visited five oases in the western Egyptian desert. This was arranged for us by Spiekermann Travel (18400 East Nine Mile Rd., Eastpoint, MI 48021; phone 800/645-3233 or 586/775-9550, fax 586/775-9556, e-mail info@mideasttrvl.com or visit www. mideasttrvl:com).

The cost was nominal: $2,190 per person, in shared rooms. We arrived in Cairo late on March 18 and departed early on April .2.

In Cairo we toured the pyramids, Sphinx, museums and other sites with a private guide for two days, then drove to Alexandria, visiting both modern and ancient sites for two days, also with our fine guide.

We drove along the Mediterranean to El Alamein, a famous WWII battle site, and went through its fine museum, then continued on to Marsa Matrouh for the night.

Leaving the coast, we started a long drive through the desert. I expected it to be rather boring, but it wasn't. When we arrived at the first oasis, Siwa, our hopes were fulfilled. It was interesting and charming, with a fine, quaint hotel, good food, ancient sites and friendly people. The only negative--our guide made it clear that none of the Berber people here wanted their picture taken.

Leaving Siwa we also left the paved road, now traveling in two 4-wheel-drive jeeps. After a long day of driving we arrived at the oasis Bahariya.

Day by day we proceeded farther into the desert. Each oasis was interesting in its own way. Each had tombs and monuments dating back to pharaonic times.

The last oasis was Kharga. Built primarily during the last 20 years, it is modern but appeared to be almost uninhabited (like Brasilia in Brazil). The government built the city to try to tempt people from the crowded Nile Valley into the essentially empty desert. So far, they seem to have failed.

We left Kharga for a very long drive through the desert to the Nile Valley and on to Luxor. The temples and tombs were just as fascinating as they were when I first saw them 25 years before.

Our guide, Wahid Moustafa (wahidgad@yahoo.com), was wonderful. His only shortcoming was he almost never gave us time for lunch.

Throughout Egypt our hotels were very good. The vehicles furnished us were excellent. The food was much better than expected and, even better, none of us had stomach problems. There appeared to be no security problems or any threat to our safety. (Perhaps our drivers could have driven a little slower.) We had no feelings of apprehension whatsoever.

I recommend Spiekermann Travel very highly, and I shall travel with them again to the Middle East.

MARK STONE

Libertyville, IL

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