The Oases of Egypt

The Western Desert of Egypt covers 3 million km2. It stretches from the western bank of the Nile to the border with Libya and the Mediterranean Sea. It makes up more than two-thirds of Egypt, yet it is uninhabited apart from the fertile oases, where people live and the fields are green.

There are five oases in the Western Desert, each completely different. You can see Ptolemaic temples and Roman forts there, which testify to the importance of each oasis.

The Western Desert is a place where the visitor can give in to the silence and isolation that is so lacking nowadays. The size of the dunes, the unusual rock formations and the wonderful boundless desert landscape make a great impression.

Travelling around the Western Desert is fairly simple these days; roads connect all the oases and buses run frequently.

Let us now look at the various Egyptian oases. The first worth noting is the Kharga Oasis, the largest of them - it gained importance as the penultimate stopping point on the famous "Forty Days Road", the route along which slaves were driven from Sudan to Egypt. Today the modern, very extensive town of Al-Kharga is the capital of the New Valley province, which includes the Kharga, Dakhla and Farafra oases. Standing in a palm grove north of the town, the well-preserved Temple of Hibis, built in the 6th century BC, is the only large Persian temple preserved in Egypt. Also north of the town lies the Christian necropolis of al-Bagawat, with hundreds of domed mud-brick tombs decorated inside with Coptic paintings.

Another oasis worth mentioning is the Dakhla Oasis - lush greenery and hundreds of springs make it considered the prettiest of the oases. Dakhla lies about 300 km south-east of Farafra and covers an area 120 kilometres long, abounding in beautiful landscapes, lush vegetation (thanks to water drawn from 500 wells) and varied fauna. At the foot of the harsh desert mountains you can come across monuments from medieval times and even from the times of the pharaohs. Particularly picturesque are the village of Kalamon and the old fortified town of El-Qasr. All the buildings are made of clay, and the narrow, maze-like streets are covered with reed mats. In Mut, the modern capital of the oasis, there is a historic clay castle and a folklore museum. Also worth visiting are the Roman temple of Deir El-Hagar, the pharaonic tomb of Balat and the Baris Oasis, the furthest to the south. A restorative bath in the warm water of the sulphur spring of Ain El-Qasr awaits the weary traveller, as well as a meal under the palms on the shore of the salt lake of Bir El-Gabal.

Bahariya Oasis: palm groves, mineral springs and golden mummies

This desert depression, called the Northern Oasis, with an area of about 4,000 square kilometres and built of black volcanic rock, is seven hours drive from Cairo. Even in ancient times it was known for its ore mines, fertile gardens, healing waters and picturesque views of the black, jagged volcanic rocks rising from the desert plain. The place became world-famous when, at the end of the 1990s, a huge necropolis from Greco-Roman times was discovered here by chance. Thousands of richly decorated mummies were found in the tombs. After this sensational discovery, the area was christened the Valley of the Golden Mummies.

Farafra Oasis: an island of greenery on the edge of the White Desert

In this smallest and most secluded oasis it is worth seeing several sulphur springs and Qasr el-Farafra, the only settlement in the area, now the ruins of a fortress surrounded by palms. The greatest attraction, just 30 km to the north, is the White Desert, where the wind, carving the white limestone rock, has conjured up surreal, enormous forms of remarkable beauty.

Siwa - the oasis where the gods blessed Alexander the Great

The most secluded of the five Egyptian oases rises like a mirage in the Western Desert, a good few hours drive from the coast. In the place where the divine oracle once confirmed the right of Alexander the Great to rule Egypt, those weary of the bustle of everyday life now seek solitude. At the heart of the oasis, which covers 2,400 square kilometres, once stood a fortified town. From its highest peak, above the roofs of the clay houses, there is a magnificent view of the lakes shimmering in the sun. The main tourist attraction of the Siwa Oasis is the ruins of the town of Aghurmi with its two sanctuaries of Amun. A bath on the island of Fatnis or in the crystal-clear mineral water of the "Fountain of Cleopatra" is a relief for body and soul. At the foot of the Gebel Dakrour hill, people suffering from rheumatism can undergo a therapy of being buried up to the neck in warm sand. Souvenir lovers can buy original silver and ceramic products at the local folk-art market. A great pleasure for birdwatchers is a trip by bicycle or "caretta" (a kind of donkey cart) to the secluded palm groves on the shores of the lake, where many rare species of birds nest. Connoisseurs of ancient customs will be interested in a visit to the Siwa Oasis Museum and the annual festival held in October for the date harvest. The closest contact with nature is provided by a stay in one of the eco-lodges for which the Siwa Oasis has become known in recent years.

Fayoum Oasis: the garden of Cairo - a paradise adventure and rich history

Closest to the Nile valley, just an hour drive south of Cairo, lies the Fayoum Oasis. The soil here is so fertile that since time immemorial the oasis served as the granary of the capital. It is worth taking a full-day trip to Fayoum if only to see the lush green vegetation and taste the rural calm. The local farmers, called fellahin, still cultivate the land, and the sight of women and children standing in front of clay houses, by the canals along which palms grow, has the same timeless charm as the reliefs depicting their ancestors on the walls of nearby tombs. Lake Qarun, with an area of 30 square kilometres, and the adjacent Wadi El-Rayan National Park form a protected area. The birds that visit are a special attraction for birdwatchers. In Wadi El-Hitan you can admire the gigantic skeletons of prehistoric whales, washed ashore when the Mediterranean Sea reached much further south than now. There is no shortage of attractions for those interested in culture, either - the pyramids at Hawara and El-Lahun are worth noting.

Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, Bahariya and Siwa: the oases in the western part of Egypt are like islands lost not only in space, in the boundless sands of the Sahara, but also in time. Reality and the world of fairy tales intermingle. Here you can see the sunrise from the back of a camel, or climb to the top of a dune and behold the majestic vastness of the desert. You can spend an afternoon in the quiet shade of a palm grove, or take a late-evening walk to a pharaonic temple through the narrow streets of a village where time has stopped, or spend the night by a campfire in front of a Bedouin tent, listening to enchanted tales and watching the twinkling of the stars in the cloudless desert sky.