Egypt desert tour

We booked a short four day three night tour through the desert, stopping along the way to see the various oases and to spend some time in the sun and sand (no sea though). The "limo" (as it was so coined by our tour organizer) arrived in the morning and we were not surprised to see that it did not quite live up to the expectations of our group. It was new but as far as we were concerned a Honda Accent did not quite seem like a Limo. The "Limo" term seems to be thrown around rather loosely in Egypt. Needless to say we managed to squeeze all of our luggage and the 4 of us in and we were off. What our guide lacked in car room he made up for in being truly a genuine man (not always easy to find in Egypt) full of good humor and lots of knowledge about the area. We left the fertile Nile valley behind and it wasn't long before we were surrounded by rock and sand. On route to our first stop Dahkla oases, we made a stop at the Necropolis of Al-Bagawat. The Necropolis is one of the oldest Christian cemeteries in the world. The mud brick tombs were a haven from the desert sun for pilgrims making the long journey to Mecca. Inside the tombs, ancient paintings depicted bible scenes (which would have been painted only 200 years after there supposed occurrence) and graffiti dates back centuries from the pilgrims as they offered their prayers for safe journey. We reached Dahkla and met Nasser, our guide who took us 4X4ing out into the Desert for some tea while we watched the sun set over the drifting sand dunes. A nights rest in Dahkla and a swim in the slightly warm and a little dodgy hot spring (the men swam but the women chickened out), we pressed on towards Farafra oases where we were to meet up with our White Desert guide. First though was a stop at the town of Al-Qasr. This 500 year old Islamic town is constructed purely of mud and wood! It's current state of repair is simply amazing! Due to the extremely low amount of rain and water in the area these mud brick homes have stood the test of time and a few still continue to be used today. The town is a labyrinth of small narrow streets with low doorways (to keep desert raiders on the horses from riding into town). We pressed on through the desert, stopping for a few photos and making a brief pause to pick up a few million year old fossils left behind when the sea retreated to leave the desert behind. In Farafra we made the switch from car to 4x4 once again and headed out into the White Desert. Wow! What an amazing piece of the world. Out in the miraculous wind swept shapes of white stone and surrounded by a a deafening silence, the White desert will make you feel as though you have traveled to another planet. Our guides prepared for us a typical Bedouin supper and we bunked out under the stars. The following morning we left the White Desert, traveled through the Black desert and finished our tour off in the Oasis of Bahariya.

Pictures:
1- Yes, we did ride on top of the 4x4 vehicle.
2- Sunset watching in Dahkla desert
3- Necropolis of Al-Bagawat (mud brick cemetery)
4- Jeff walking in desert around Dahkla
5- Tea in Dahkla desert
6- Late night hot spring swim
7- Al-Qasr (mud and wood town)
8- Sea of sand
9- Camping out in White desert
10- White desert formations (famous mushroom and chicken)
11- White desert (looks like snow huh?)
12- Walking in Bahariya Oasis