10am we open the door and instead of a pair of donkey's we have a jeep to jump in as today we're going in to the desert. I knew that they needed permissions to travel in to the desert and the original programme Ludmilla suggested included staying overnight in the desert and then going sandboarding (!) but I'd said we weren't up for these, but couldn't exactly remember what we had booked. So it was going to be a surprise where we ended up today!
First we travelled along beside the lake and a canal. It turns out that infact there is too much water in Siwa as not enough of it is bottled, but when it settles it forms a lake that is lower than the water table, so in fact is salty. It was fascinating to hear about the water and agriculture and tourism in Siwa from our guide (supplemented by conversations with Ludmilla in the evenings).
We then weaved our way around the gardens and small villages on the outskirts of Siwa. The gardens were interlaced with small canals to bring the water closer to the date palms and olive trees that form the main crops for export from Siwa (although other crops are grown, they are consumed within the home, or swapped with neighbours). Emerging from the narrow road the drive slipped into 4x4 for the first time as we came across a stinky sticky muddy patch.
On the asphalt again and we are faced with huge cliffs that are dotted with small black squares. These are all tombs and as we explore we see that the mountain is littered with them. These are from Roman times so not as old as the Mountain of the Dead we visited yesterday. Our Siwan guide points out a few things but then leaves us to explore. We stop at three different tombs sites, some cut out of the cliffs or rock, others reached on a bed of sand. The final set of them are a steep sandy climb away. These are less visited and some bones lie sunbleached at their lip.
We're edging our way in to the desert now and have been driving off-road and through the sand for about an hour when we stop at this final set of tombs. Our driver points the way and as we walk and explore he parks the jeep high on a dune and props the bonnet open to top up the radiator. When we amble over having had our fill of exploring we find him preparing a lunch of salads with a pile of baladi bread. We tuck on sitting on the rugs that were in the boot and the low table that has been balanced on the roof rack. When we finish eating suddenly two men appear from nowhere. They've walked to our jeep from who knows were (there is some green about showing water, but we can't see a village or a vehicle). Apparently they've lost their camel - have we seen it? No. They don't seem too fussed and walk off saying that it will have to come back anyway when it needs more water!
When we drive off from here we can still see green, but a few twists and turns later over the sands and we stop and turn around - nothing but desert is around us. Wow.
The next few stops - who knows how he finds them - we look for fossils. We'll be going along sand and suddenly the ground will get firmer and rockier and then crunchy. Each crunch is going over another shell and we stop to find shells and sea urchins in the white rock. It is just doesn't seem real to think that this oasis that is miles and miles in to the sand sea was once not just near the sea, but under the sea enough to form the sandstone and fossils here today.
We go further into the dunes and then we sea an abandoned oasis coming up. The lake is large, but too salty for any use to people now. We stop and Scotty and I go in for a dip while M&D look at the birds and wade in the water. Our driver/guide makes a small fire and brew up a kettle of tea. First we have Siwan tea which is so strong you could almost cut it. Then we have mint tea and some date biscuits. We learn a new technique for mixing sugar with the tea without a spoon. First you pour most of the tea into the largest glass (Siwan tea is served in almost shot glasses, but one is always larger than the others). Then you add a layer (!) of sugar to is. Return this to the pot and swirl and then pour again in to the largest glass. Our guide repeats this until it is mixed into a lovely sweet mixture.
It's nearly 5pm so when we pile into the jeep we expect to be heading home and would not be surprised if this oasis that feels miles and miles from anywhere turns out to be just a dune top away from civilisation. Our driver starts heading for the dune, but instead of following tracks we can see in the sand he crosses them at right angles. We're not just heading for the dunes, but the biggest dune, and for the very top of it. Surely some mistake? No - this jeep is going sand surfing!
We crest the dune and it feels almost vertical when we look down and start our descent. Wow - we did not expect this. We squeal with a combination of child-like glee and nervousness and we descend into the bowl of the dune. That was amazing. We don't stop there but keep going. Somehow the driver knows where he is going and how to read each dune. In this light it's difficult to see where the dune crests, let alone any idea of what might be the other side of it until you get to its peak. Just amazing. His confidence (in our enjoyment, rather than his skills which remain unbelievable) grows and now he is stopping at their very peaks and coasting down - sometimes managing to stop half way down as we are all leaning forward with the pull of gravity towards the bonnet. We go for over an hour like this and it is pure fun for us all.
Suddenly he says "I will show you the black rock that came from the sky" and over the next dune is the scattered remains of what was once a meteor now a speck in the middle of this dust desert. How he found it we cannot fathom but he just laughs and says "This is my home. I have been driving here for 20 years"
We stop at the top of a dune and he says "We have a good sand sea here?" As we chime in approval he asks us if we want to sand board now. The combination of our aging aches and pains makes us decline but he finds us the top of a dune overlooking the town of Siwa in the distance now while the sun sets against the sands to the west. What a day!
First we travelled along beside the lake and a canal. It turns out that infact there is too much water in Siwa as not enough of it is bottled, but when it settles it forms a lake that is lower than the water table, so in fact is salty. It was fascinating to hear about the water and agriculture and tourism in Siwa from our guide (supplemented by conversations with Ludmilla in the evenings).
We then weaved our way around the gardens and small villages on the outskirts of Siwa. The gardens were interlaced with small canals to bring the water closer to the date palms and olive trees that form the main crops for export from Siwa (although other crops are grown, they are consumed within the home, or swapped with neighbours). Emerging from the narrow road the drive slipped into 4x4 for the first time as we came across a stinky sticky muddy patch.
On the asphalt again and we are faced with huge cliffs that are dotted with small black squares. These are all tombs and as we explore we see that the mountain is littered with them. These are from Roman times so not as old as the Mountain of the Dead we visited yesterday. Our Siwan guide points out a few things but then leaves us to explore. We stop at three different tombs sites, some cut out of the cliffs or rock, others reached on a bed of sand. The final set of them are a steep sandy climb away. These are less visited and some bones lie sunbleached at their lip.
We're edging our way in to the desert now and have been driving off-road and through the sand for about an hour when we stop at this final set of tombs. Our driver points the way and as we walk and explore he parks the jeep high on a dune and props the bonnet open to top up the radiator. When we amble over having had our fill of exploring we find him preparing a lunch of salads with a pile of baladi bread. We tuck on sitting on the rugs that were in the boot and the low table that has been balanced on the roof rack. When we finish eating suddenly two men appear from nowhere. They've walked to our jeep from who knows were (there is some green about showing water, but we can't see a village or a vehicle). Apparently they've lost their camel - have we seen it? No. They don't seem too fussed and walk off saying that it will have to come back anyway when it needs more water!When we drive off from here we can still see green, but a few twists and turns later over the sands and we stop and turn around - nothing but desert is around us. Wow.
The next few stops - who knows how he finds them - we look for fossils. We'll be going along sand and suddenly the ground will get firmer and rockier and then crunchy. Each crunch is going over another shell and we stop to find shells and sea urchins in the white rock. It is just doesn't seem real to think that this oasis that is miles and miles in to the sand sea was once not just near the sea, but under the sea enough to form the sandstone and fossils here today.
It's nearly 5pm so when we pile into the jeep we expect to be heading home and would not be surprised if this oasis that feels miles and miles from anywhere turns out to be just a dune top away from civilisation. Our driver starts heading for the dune, but instead of following tracks we can see in the sand he crosses them at right angles. We're not just heading for the dunes, but the biggest dune, and for the very top of it. Surely some mistake? No - this jeep is going sand surfing!
We crest the dune and it feels almost vertical when we look down and start our descent. Wow - we did not expect this. We squeal with a combination of child-like glee and nervousness and we descend into the bowl of the dune. That was amazing. We don't stop there but keep going. Somehow the driver knows where he is going and how to read each dune. In this light it's difficult to see where the dune crests, let alone any idea of what might be the other side of it until you get to its peak. Just amazing. His confidence (in our enjoyment, rather than his skills which remain unbelievable) grows and now he is stopping at their very peaks and coasting down - sometimes managing to stop half way down as we are all leaning forward with the pull of gravity towards the bonnet. We go for over an hour like this and it is pure fun for us all.
Suddenly he says "I will show you the black rock that came from the sky" and over the next dune is the scattered remains of what was once a meteor now a speck in the middle of this dust desert. How he found it we cannot fathom but he just laughs and says "This is my home. I have been driving here for 20 years"
We stop at the top of a dune and he says "We have a good sand sea here?" As we chime in approval he asks us if we want to sand board now. The combination of our aging aches and pains makes us decline but he finds us the top of a dune overlooking the town of Siwa in the distance now while the sun sets against the sands to the west. What a day!
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