Day 182: one night in the White Desert

There were two oasis we had in mind: Siwa or Bahariya. Siwa was less touristy and more remote, but it takes 12 hours from Cairo by bus each way. Not wanting to be on the bus that long, we opted for Bahariya, still five hours away from Cairo. It's more touristy, but we just wanted to experience the White Desert for one night. When we arrived, several people approached us about trips to the White Desert. We ended up going with a 16-year-old kid, Ahmed, whose father runs a hotel (Desert Oasis Home) and arranges trips to the White Desert. The room was clean, but it was very cold at night without any heating instrument in the room. We were concerned how cold it would get for the desert trip the next day.


Before the night falls, we hired Ahmed to take us to a local hot spring and a salt lake. The hot spring was very basic – one big pipe, one loud motor and one concrete basin. The temperature was just right, perfect for the cold, sunny desert. The locals were washing in the hot spring. Since there were no women, Katy stood out from the crowd. The salt lake was stunning. See it for yourself below.


The next morning we met four people from Melaysia. They were going on the same desert trip, so six of us spent the next two days together. Along the way, we stopped a few interesting places. The Crystal mountain was appropriately named because it's full of crystals. I must admit that it was quite tempting to chip away the crystals for souveniors if our bags weren't so full already. Sitting in the White Desert and watching the sun setting was extraordinary. At night, we slept under the stars, i.e. outdoor and on top of the sand with a blanket underneath us. It was freezing. We had to wear everything we had – thermo underwear, fleece, jacket, fleece hat, gloves, two pairs of socks, scarfs. Acccording to the driver, the temperature at night had dropped below zero.


The breakfast consisted of cold Egyptian bread and jam. Good thing I brought some banana and oranges along. After breakfast, the driver could not start the engine due to the cold temperature. The idea of spending one more night in the desert was unthinkable. So immediately all the men were pushing behind the car. After a few failed attempts, the car eventually started. Sigh, it was such a relief. Back to Cairo!