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Tailor made 3 Day Tour - WESTERN DESERT “White Desert” (Ref : TM3DESERT) DAY SUGGESTED ITIN ACCOMMODATION 1 Transfer to Bahariya; check in hotel Local safari tour: through the old centre of the oasis, the black mountains, the sand dunes, salt lake, the gardens, pyramid mountain. At sunset we go to the mountains to see the ruin called "The English House" In the evening there is a possibility to visit the village and the shops Hotel - Bahariya 2 After breakfast we start the safari tour to the White Desert (about 180 km.). This tour goes off and on road, with 4x4 cars. We will stop at all the special areas between Bahariya and the White Desert, like: The black desert The valley of El Haize with the nice, warm spring; here we can have lunch. The crystal mountains The valley of l'Agabat The White Desert Safari camp in the White desert and enjoy a fresh meal cooked for dinner - In the evening you can listen to traditional Bedouin music Safari Camp 3 After breakfast we drive back to Bahariya oasis and visit cultural places, like a museum (with a collection of golden mummies), the 3 tombs and the ruin of Alexander the Great. After lunch transfer to Cairo Pricing and Details (Prices quoted based on 2 persons sharing a double room. Prices in UK sterling) TOTAL TOUR PRICE...... 1 & 2 Star 3 & 4 Star 5 Star N/A £ 212 per person N/A Click here for Currency Conversion Tour Includes :- All accommodation. All Transfers Transportation (to and from all sites and destinations). English Speaking Guide. Most hotel stays include breakfast. Items not included :- International Flights (See the flights section of this site or contact us for advice on obtaining flights). Entrance fees to sites (most sites are around £2-3. A full list is available on the "What to See" section of this site). Egyptian Visa (Download a visa application in the visa section of this site or contact us for information on obtaining your visa). Tour Notes Dates : All of our tours are run to fit clients exact date / time requirements. Just let us know what you require and the tour will be scheduled to fit it with you. Single Supplement: For clients travelling alone, tours will be subject to a single supplement - please contact us for further details

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Western Desert

With a population of about 23,000, Siwa, the most inaccessible of all Egypt's oasis until very recently, is also one of the most fascinating, lying some 60 feed below sea level.. On the edge of the Great Sand Sea, its rich history includes a visit from Alexander the Great to consult the Oracle of Amun in 331 BC. Archaeologists, such as Liana Souvaltsis and implied that the great military leader was burried here, but no real evidence has come from this. The King of Persia lead a 50,000 man army to the area to distroy the oracle, but the entire army was lost in the desert.

The area has a nice climate, chilly in winter, hot in the summer and moderate in the spring and autumn. Lake Siwa to the west of the town of is a large, saltwater lake.

The area is famous for its dates and olives, and is one of the most beautiful landscapes in Egpt. Olives oil is still made in the area by crushing the olives from the 70,000 olive trees in the area with stones. The dates are gathered by zaggala (stick bearers), who must remain celibate until the age of forty, and the area boasts some 300,000 date trees. It is located on the old date caravan route, yet until recently, it received few other visitors and retained much of its heritage. In fact, until the battles which took place around the oasis in World War II, it was hardly governed by Egypt, and remained mostly a Berber (Zenatiya) community for the prior thirteen centuries. Siwans continue to have their own culture and customs and they speak a Berber language, called Siwi, rather than Arabic. Interestingly, each October there is a three-day festival during which Siwans must settle all of their past year's disputes.

The area is also famous for its springs, of which there are approximately 1,000. The water is sweet, and is said to have medical properties.

Though relaxing and certainly now a part of the tourist community in Egypt, it is very traditional, and visitors should keep this in mind when traveling to the area. Girls of the area are often married by the age of 14, and afterward where completely covering clothing, and allowed little communications with the world outside their immediate family. Many women still wear traditional costumes and silver jewelry like those displayed in The Traditional Siwan House museum in the town center. In fact, the area is also well known for its crafts, particularly woven cloth, which is unique in Egypt.

The Bahariya Oasis

Why pay 20 million dollars for a trip into space when you can go to the moon for so much less? OK, its not really the moon, but the landscape is surreal; alien in every way, and it changes from one moment to the next. It is the type of place that creates wonder in adults, where such feelings were long ago thought lost. It is a land not yet fully explored, with twists and turns that reveal ever changing landscapes. This is the Bahariya Oasis, and the nearby, or rather, encroaching western desert.

Over time, the Bahariya Oasis has had a number of different names. It has been called the Northern Oasis, the Little Oasis, Zeszes, Oassis Parva and the especially during the Christian era, the Oasis of al-Bahnasa, along with various other names.

At one time, the Bahariya Oasis, as well as most of the rest of what is today referred to as the Western (or Libyan) Desert, was the floor of an immense ocean. Yet from about 3000 BC until the present, almost no rainfall graces this part of the world, so groundwater is its life blood.

Remains of stone tools found in the Bahariya oasis evidence the existence of settlements in the area as early as the Paleolithic Period. In fact, we are told that anyone with a trained eye,walking about the oasis, can spot prehistoric stone knives and and axes simply lying upon the surface of the sand.

However, little real excavation has been carried out in the Oasis, at least until the last several years, and so we know little of the history of the Bahariya Oasis prior to Egypt's Middle Kingdom. What we do know comes mostly from the work of Ahmed Fakhry, and 20th century Egyptologist, who worked in the Oasis. Otherwise, most of the archaeological investigation has been carried out by the local antiquity authorities, and some recently by Zahi Hawass.

It is possible that during the Old Kingdom there may have been a governor appointed to the Bahariya Oasis, as there was in Dakhla, but so far we have no hard evidence that might support such an argument. In fact, we hear of a people known as the Tjehenu, who inhabited the Western Desert and were fair skinned with blond hair and blue eyes, and with whom the early Egyptian's fought. However, its seems that the Bahariya Oasis was originally inhabited by a mix of people from the Nile Valley and Bedouins from Libya. At that time, evidence suggests that the Oasis was much larger than it is now, but no settlements dating to the Predynastic, Early Dynastic or Old Kingdom have thus far been unearthed.

By the Middle Kingdom, Bahariya was known as Zeszes, and definitely fell under the control of the Egyptian kings, though only a single scarab (inscribed with the name of Senusret) from that period has been found in Bahariya. Yet, documentary evidence provides that both Amenemhet and Senusret II began to pay considerable attention to the Oasis, probably to deflect regular attacks from the Libyans. At that time, there must have been large agricultural estates, large houses for the landowners, and even military garrisons to keep marauders at bay. Agriculture was, as it is now, of major importance to this community, and wine, as well as other goods of the Oasis, made their way from here to the Nile Valley by donkey caravans along two different routes.

However, during the 15th Dynasty, when Egypt was under the rule of the Hyksos kings from Palestine, there was a lapse in trade with the Oasis, presumably because the trade routes were unsafe. At that time, we find only one text that refers to the Oasis, when King Kamose refers to it as DjesDjes, the word for the region's famous wine.

According to Fakhry, under Tuthmosis III, many improvements were made in the Oasis, including new water wells. His reign marked an increase in the local population. At this time, the Oasis was under the control of Thinis (Abydos), to which they paid tribute. We find visual evidence of this in the private tomb of Rekhmire, who was Tuthmosis III's vizier. One scene portrays the people of the Oasis, wearing striped kilts, presenting gifts of mats, hides and wine. However, the Oasis apparently had at least a governor who was a native of Bahariya, for the oldest tomb so far discovered in the Oasis is that of Amenhotep Huy, where his title is given as "Governor of the Northern Oasis". The tomb is dated to the end of the 18th Dynasty or the beginning of the 19th. By the 19th Dynasty of Egypt's New Kingdom, the Bahariya Oasis became even more important because of its mineral abundance. Even today, the mining of iron ore continues to be a vital industry. Even Ramesses II, in the Temple of Amun at Luxor, refers to the Bahariya as a place of mining. Of course agricultural products continued to be important in the Oasis, including dates, grapes, figs, livestock and pigeons (for food).

By the time of Merenptah, Ramesses II's son, Egypt was suffering from Libyan attacks, and the Bahariya, as well as the other Western Oasis, must have suffered considerably during this time. Ramesses III defeated the Libyans, and bought back some order to the desert region. However, it was not until the Third Intermediate Period and particularly the Late Period that Bahariya emerged as a major Egyptian center.

Shoshenq I, who founded the 22nd Dynasty under Libyan rule, along with Shoshenq IV, seemed particularly interested in the Oasis. In fact, Fakhry believed that the Libyans first captured the Farafra and Bahariya Oasis to use as a base for their conquest of Egypt. They developed the region, and ordered that government officials live in the community. We hear of an official during this period named Weshet-het, holding the title "Superior Libyan Chief", who was probably a governor, as well as another named Arcawa who became governor and priest at the end of the 22nd Dynasty. Many of its known antiquities date from this period.

Yet it was not until the 25th and 26th Dynasties that the Bahariya Oasis florished as an important agricultural and trade center. Specifically, by the 26th Dynasty, Bahariya prospered with its own governors who were natives of the oasis. They apparently continued to report to Abydos, where there apparently remained a governor over all of the Oasis. By the time of Ahmose II (570-526 BC), the importance of the Bahariya Oasis was fully understood. He sent troops into the Western Desert to defend Egyptian interests against the Greeks and Libyans, and acted vigilantly to protect this Oasis. To honor him, two temples were erected, along with a number of chapels near Ain el-Muftella (near El Bawiti). These temples were embellished even into Egypt's Persian period.

During the Persian period that followed a series of takeovers by the Nubians and Assyrians, a strong military presence and garrison were established in the Bahariya Oasis. They may have been responsible for some of the antiquities that have been attributed to the Romans. However, they could not stop the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, once he decided to make Egypt his own.

It is very possible that Alexandria the Great traveled through the Bahariya Oasis on his way to the Oracle of Amun at Siwa. At first, Egypt was a organized under a centrally controlled government headed by Alexander's commander, Ptolemy, and the Bahariya Oasis immediately began to prosper. Not only were trade routes reestablished, but the Greeks used the Oasis to establish control over the rest of the Western Desert. In fact, they set up an extensive, permanent military garrison to protect the trade routes. During the Roman and Greek Periods, we seem to know more about the Bahariya Oasis than from any other period of time, though, as more archaeology is investigated, we stand to know much more. It was during the Greek period that the cemetery known as the Valley of the Golden Mummies came into existence.