We try to take advantage of any holiday we have here in Egypt to travel. During the Eid al-Adha, we decided to travel to Siwa which is an oasis about a three hour drive south into the desert from the Mediterranean coast. This holiday is when Muslims worldwide commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismail. Today, Muslims sacrifice animals, mainly sheep here in Egypt. One third of the animal is given to the poor, one third is given to relatives, and one third is eaten by the family. As we traveled north to the coast and then west to the coastal city of Marsa Matrouh, we saw many people getting ready for the feast. There were families packed into the back of pickup trucks along with sheep. We also noticed the cultural differences as well compared to Cairo. Most all the men we saw were wearing galibeas, long robes with long sleaves. Most of the women we saw were completely covered, including the eyes. We stopped for one night in Marsa Matrouh which took around eight hours to get to........a little longer than it should take because we visited the World War II battle site of El Alamein along the way. We arrived on our American Thanksgiving day and swam in the Mediterranean, a little cool but very clear and blue.
The next day we filled our gas tanks and drove to Siwa. It is complete desert along the way with not one gas station. Closer to the coast there are low, scrub type vegetation and occassionally we would see small groups of camels grazing. The further into the desert we drove, the less vegetation we saw until it became complete sand from horizon to horizon. Getting closer to Siwa, we began to descend in elevation. Siwa is an oasis which is a low spot in the desert. Apparently, the springs that surface contain water that comes as far away as equatorial Africa. Siwa was once an important stop on different caravan routes. The original fort, in ruins now, still exists and was open for us to explore. No outsiders were ever allowed inside of it when it was inhabited long ago. From atop the fort, we looked out over thousands and thousands of date palm trees which provide shade throughout the oasis. Below in town, there are many vendors who sell woven rugs, woven and stiched scarves, baskets, and beautiful jewelry. Men and kids are in the streets. The only women we saw were being carted around in the back of donkey carts or the back of pickup trucks. The women we saw were completely covered in a blue colored outfit.
The next day we set out in two 4 x 4s into the desert to explore and camp for the night. We were at the edge of the Great Sand Sea which has huge sand dunes for hundreds of miles. We stopped in one place and found sea shells everywhere.......a reminder of when the area was once part of a massive ocean. We continued on cruising over dunes. Some of the descents felt like we would flip end over end, but the tires actually dig in as we gear down the dunes. The wind has created perfect edges along the ridges of the dunes. The dunes are constantly changing with the wind over time. We arrived in the early evening to a camp where other travelers were staying as well. We were served a dinner in a bedouin tent sitting on rugs covering the sand. Later we were entertained by musicians from Siwa who played drums and wind intruments. We slept on rugs in another bedouin tent for the night.....sounds cool but very uncomfortable. In the morning we made our way back to Siwa and later began our trek back home to Cairo.
This trip definitely opened our eyes to a very different part of Egypt. In Siwa, it felt like the outside world has not yet completely changed a culture that has been around for many centuries.
