Siwan Desert Rose

After the general malaise that had affected us in Alexandria, it was with a spring in our step that we stepped onto our bus to Siwa. We had heard and read many things about Siwa - a place geographically isolated from the rest of Egypt until a road was built in the 1980s, where they speak a different language and where Alexander the Great made a pilgrimage to see the Oracle to confirm that yes, he was the son of Zeus and therefore a god and could rule Egypt.

The journey of 9 hours seemed to pass quite effortlessly with a couple of stops along the way at resthouses in the middle of nowhere as well as people being dropped off at places where there was nothing but desert as far as the eye can see on all the points of the compass.

Another question raised was the piles of rocks in straight lines heading to the horizon on both sides of the road and about five metres apart. What do they mean? Are they borders or symbols of land division or something else entirely?

We had prebooked our hotel and on arrival were greeted by several Siwan boys of about 10 (all with perfect English) who wanted to take us to our destinations. All guessed that I was Australian, so either they're a good judge of accent or a lot of us Aussies make the journey. Mahmood was the first boy to talk to me so we chose him to take us. We went round the corner in his donkey cart before being deposited with his older brother (maybe Dad?) and they took us out to our hotel in their 4wd. On the way we were offered a Desert Safari as well as taxi service whenever required. Although persistent, there was no real pressure and it made a nice change from the "Hello, where you from?" hassle of Cairo.

After being dropped off by Mahmood at the Desert Rose, we were greeted by a group of German holidaymakers who were occupying the pool. We soon joined them and the last couple of days travel and stresses were eased away by the cool underground spring fed water. We were to spend a lot of time in the pool before we left.

The Desert Rose is a totally appropriate name for the hotel. However, the one problem for us being the connotation with the rubbish Sting song of the same name which we thankfully only know the chorus of.

After relaxing in the pool, we were soon greeted by Ali, the caretaker and shown around. As the sun set, we watched from the roof terrace and chatted to an Aussie couple from Bendigo, Louis and Hayley. The four of us chatted for quite a while before hunger pains and the mosquitos drove us to the kitchen where Louis and Hayley shared their provisions with us (our hunger had returned after an enforced fast before the bus journey).

There is no electricity at the Desert Rose, but the lanterns and candles only add to the atmosphere as people sit around reading, chatting and playing backgammon (Banz 2 - Vic 1) around the central courtyard.

Our stay in Siwa followed a pattern of a lot of relaxing, chilling and resting apart from our Desert Safari which we'll write about seperately. Although not every site was ticked off, our stay gave us a definite taster for more and when I go back I would most definitely stay at the Desert Rose again

Ice Cold in Alex

After general embassy disappointment and the realisation that we can't just chill out in Cairo for too long, we caught the train to Alexandria. The train takes you through the Egyptian Delta and it was interesting to watch the city give way to farmland before again giving way to the suburbs or Alexandria.

The oven-door heat of Cairo was replaced with the sea breeze of Alexandria. We had got off the train one stop early and so after a bit of working out where we were, we jumped on the tram and headed to our hotel. Our first choice, the Hotel Union was full and so we took our chances with the Hotel Crillon. To put it mildly it was dirty and creepy, but budget options in Alexandria are limited - prices start at around 50 - 80 Egyptian Pounds (roughly 5 - 8 British Pounds/12 - 20 Aussie Dollars) for budget accommodation before jumping to $100US a night. We didn't get to try the breakfast that was included without choice as a bad case of Ramses Revenge had overtaken us both (we both prefer the Chessington Ride). Our first night was spent lying in bed, listening to the call to prayer and realising that we were a long way from home.

We managed to get out of the hotel about 1pm and shoved some comfort food down our throats from McDonald's (I was craving a milkshake for some reason) before taking on the services of a man with a horse and cart to take us to two of Alexandria's main sites, both with links to its former glory. Our first stop was its new library which looks impressive from the outside though we didn't venture inside as you require a ticket, and they were only for sale a few blocks back. After wandering around there, our man calmly took our horse and cart through three lanes of traffic on either side of the road and headed off to Fort Qaitby, which is built on the former site of the the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The ride was interesting as we got to see beach life Egyptian style. The beaches were packed and the few women that we saw swimming were still wearing full dress (trousers or skirt, long-sleeved shirt and headscarf). I decided to hold off on swimming until we got to Siwa.

The area around Fort Qaitby had a definite promenade feel to it and we were quite happy to wander about as men fished on the rocks nearby and kids dared each other to jump from the highest ones into the sea. As the Lighthouse was completely destroyed in a couple of earthquakes in 1303 and 1329 there is not a lot to see, but it was definitely worth the journey to soak up the atmosphere.

Our man was waiting for us and promptly took us back to the downtown area. When we arrived we paid him the agreed fee plus a small tip. He took them both and with the money in each hand gestured that the main fee was for him and the tip for his horse. It was very sweet and is something we need to remember when we're being hassled by our next papyrus or perfume seller.

We were too late to see two of the other sites in Alexandria which we had wanted. The Catacombs and Pompey's Pillar will just have to wait until next time we're in Alexandria when hopefully there will be more options for budget accommodation available to us there.