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Oasis Expeditions I
Siwa/Kharga (
07 days )
6 Nights Siwa – Bahareya –
Farafra – Dakhla and Kharga.
The
Siwa Oasis or Siwah
(Wahat Siwah in
Arabic:
واحة سيوة)
is an
oasis in
Egypt,
located
between the Qattara
Depression and the
Egyptian Sand Sea in the
Libyan Desert, nearly 50
km
(31 miles) east of the
Libyan border, and 560 km (348 miles) from
Cairo
.
About 80 km
(50 miles) in length and 20 km (12
miles)
wide, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt's isolated
settlements, with 23.000 people, mostly ethnic
Berbers
who speak a distinct language known as
Siwi.
Agriculture is the main activity, mostly
dates
and
olives, supplemented by
basketry.
Although the oasis is known to have been settled since at least the
10th
millennium BC, the earliest
evidence of connection with
ancient Egypt is the
26th
Dynasty, when a
necropolis was established.
The ancient Egyptian name of Siwa was Sekht-am (meaning "palm land").
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DAY 01 : SIWA OASIS
This morning we will visit the
Temple of Amoun where the
ancients
came to visit the famous oracle. You can still see
many interesting side
and windows around the central temple
site, which is within a ruined
village, giving the whole
site the most wonderful atmosphere. We will
look at high
quality hieroglyphics and caving at the temple of Umm
Beyid
and see the 'Pool of Cleopatra'. We then drive to eastern Siwa,
rarely visited, to see the fascinating remains of a
Roman Town and an
abandoned Libyan village with a Ptolemaic
temple in among the ruins.
We will take lunch at Ain Sharouf,
a charming natural spring, and a
pool where we can take a
well-earned dip. Then we journey into the
Western Desert and
the little known and extremely beautiful sun set at
the sand
sea then back to the Hotel.
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DAY 02 : THE LONG WAY TO BAHAREYA OASIS
Today we travel across the expanse of the Great Western
Desert. We
pass by the Newamisa Lakes and will at times be
some 50 feet below
sea level. We will also pass by some of
the many wonderful and ever
changing sand dunes. This is the
very area where the army of Cabyses
disappeared under the
sands. Having lunch box at the desert. Upon
arrival at the
small Oasis of Bahareya we will go straight to our hotel.
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DAY 03 : BAHARIA OASIS
The Oasis of Bahareya is full of monuments. AWT has put
together a
tour including all the best and most interesting
sites of the Oasis, and
these are of great quality.
First we visit the little museum in
Bawiti
with some
fascinating local finds. Then we will enter the marvelous
and
refreshingly original tomb of Benauti from the 26th
dynasty. Next, to
the Amasis chapels which are being
preserved in an unusually
sympathetic style. After a visit
to the Temple of Alexander have lunch
at the oasis the drive
to visit the English house , the hot springs and
watch the
sun go down over the salt lake before we return to the hotel
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DAY 04 : THE GREAT DAY TO THE WHITE DESERT
In the morning Drive towards the incredible white desert, on
the way
we will stop by the Crystal and Black Mountains for
visit and lunch.
Visit the White Desert & enjoy seeing the
beautiful shapes of lime
stone. Overnight camp in the
White Desert .
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DAY 05 : FARAFRA OASIS - DAKHLA OASIS
Morning we visit the oasis of Farafra, continue driving to
reach Dakhla.
On the way we visit the Picturesque village of
El Qasr (built on
traditional Islamic style), Deir El Hagar
and visit the Roman burial
Ground of Mozawaka then drive to
the painted rock at the yellow
desert to enjoy the camel
rock and over night camping.
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DAY 06 : KHARGA OASIS
In the morning we drive to reach Kharga oasis and visit the
temple of
Hibis, the Christian tombs of
Bagawat and
then the old town of
Kharga. Lunch in a local restaurant at
the Oasis, after lunch drive to
visit the Nadora fortress
area then back to the Hotel.
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DAY 07 : KHARGA OASIS - LUXOR
After breakfast drive to visit Paris oasis, Doush temple and
drive to
Luxor.
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