The bus ride was borderline miserable. It was cramped, uncomfortable and worst of all freezing cold. We arrived around 6 am, it was all we could do to stumble to the nearest dive hotel and convince them to let us sleep. We found one quickly and passed out until mid day.
When we awoke we found a tiny little town. It is basically a Bedouin village with tourism flair. It isn’t, however, a huge tourist hub so it up to this point retains its small town charm. We found some breakfast before settling on renting bikes for the day to explore the spring, lakes and monuments surrounding the town.
We went by a couple old run down temples and what is supposed to be the former oracle of
Alexander the great. We then came upon a spring (one of many in the area, but the largest and most accessible) that had been concreted on the sides and resembled and enormous well. There was also a nice little coffee shop there run by a friendly young British woman. We got changed and jumped in, spending some time enjoying the cool spring water. After we got out, we dawdled around the shop and were preparing to leave when I had a minor incident with the lady's dog resulting in a little blood and a big hole in my pants. She was super apologetic and we remained there for a while.
We then realized the time and that if we wanted to catch the best sunset in town over a large salt lake we would need to haul ass. We arrived just as the sun was setting, sweating and exhausted, but it was quite a view. After we made it back to the town, we had some dinner and then after consulting with family and other travelers in response to my dog bite made a trip out to the hospital. It was surprisingly smooth and I ended up with rabies and tetanus shots for nary a dime.
The next day we awoke and decided against the expensive jeep ride into the desert in favor of a
full day donkey taxi driven by the amazing 15 year old driver Mohamed. He had so brilliantly negotiated us through our hospital experience the night before that we were sure he couldn't fail.
He continued to impress as we visited a hot spring, got our own desert donkey adventure spending time on the dunes and finished the afternoon by climbing the largest mountain around for an amazing sunset. From the top of the mountain you could truly appreciate the oasis. I could
see in 360 degrees the desert all around surrounding the dense lush palm forest dotted with the town and a couple villages. This was functionally my final Egyptian activity and it couldn't have been more fitting.
I had booked the bus back to Alex for later that night because I had already booked my ticket
for the wee hours of the morning on the 17th heading for India. When we returned to the village, I still had time to grab dinner with my friend before I had to go. It was a real treat because we remembered a tip we received the week before about a good steak hidden away in the village. It took us some time to find the hotel restaurant and a bit extra money, but for having my last beef before heading to beef-less India, it was beyond worth it.
When we awoke we found a tiny little town. It is basically a Bedouin village with tourism flair. It isn’t, however, a huge tourist hub so it up to this point retains its small town charm. We found some breakfast before settling on renting bikes for the day to explore the spring, lakes and monuments surrounding the town.
We went by a couple old run down temples and what is supposed to be the former oracle of
Alexander the great. We then came upon a spring (one of many in the area, but the largest and most accessible) that had been concreted on the sides and resembled and enormous well. There was also a nice little coffee shop there run by a friendly young British woman. We got changed and jumped in, spending some time enjoying the cool spring water. After we got out, we dawdled around the shop and were preparing to leave when I had a minor incident with the lady's dog resulting in a little blood and a big hole in my pants. She was super apologetic and we remained there for a while.
We then realized the time and that if we wanted to catch the best sunset in town over a large salt lake we would need to haul ass. We arrived just as the sun was setting, sweating and exhausted, but it was quite a view. After we made it back to the town, we had some dinner and then after consulting with family and other travelers in response to my dog bite made a trip out to the hospital. It was surprisingly smooth and I ended up with rabies and tetanus shots for nary a dime.The next day we awoke and decided against the expensive jeep ride into the desert in favor of a
full day donkey taxi driven by the amazing 15 year old driver Mohamed. He had so brilliantly negotiated us through our hospital experience the night before that we were sure he couldn't fail.He continued to impress as we visited a hot spring, got our own desert donkey adventure spending time on the dunes and finished the afternoon by climbing the largest mountain around for an amazing sunset. From the top of the mountain you could truly appreciate the oasis. I could
see in 360 degrees the desert all around surrounding the dense lush palm forest dotted with the town and a couple villages. This was functionally my final Egyptian activity and it couldn't have been more fitting.I had booked the bus back to Alex for later that night because I had already booked my ticket
for the wee hours of the morning on the 17th heading for India. When we returned to the village, I still had time to grab dinner with my friend before I had to go. It was a real treat because we remembered a tip we received the week before about a good steak hidden away in the village. It took us some time to find the hotel restaurant and a bit extra money, but for having my last beef before heading to beef-less India, it was beyond worth it. 
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