Tourists flock to Egypt’s Bahariya Oasis.
There is a distinct sense that Bahariya is Egypt’s first authentic desert oases.
As of this writing, it’s around a 4- or 5-hour drive from Cairo over a well-maintained highway that sees a limited bit of tanker activity but little traffic.
After 150 kilometers, there is just one rest stop, a tea shop in the shape of a barn (and a smaller one approximately 10 kilometers farther on).
French pilot Antoine de Saint Exupery was killed in 1935 when his plane crashed on the right side of the road as he approached Wadi Natrun.
A half-pint of coffee and an orange were all Exupery had to eat as he survived in the desert for more than a year. He eventually authored a magnificent desert book on his experiences.
Foreigners seeking peace and desert independence have long sought to Bahariya because of its close proximity to Cairo.
Eco-spiritual groups are springing up all over the world, catering to a new breed of tourists that seek more than simply a scenic safari. They have either created or been involved with these organizations.
Driving through Bahariya, Bawati is the most significant city. The oasis’s depression is home to a number of small communities, some of which were recorded in the Roman Empire.
Bahariya has been inhabited for hundreds of years, and only recently were the so-called Golden Mummies unearthed there.
At the museum in the Bawiti district, you’ll be able to see some of the mummy cases.
You may buy Bedouin scarves and rugs at any of the many shops in this area.
Old-fashioned businesses and enterprises such as bakeries are being sought after by those looking to get their daily bread from the small blacked-out hole in the wall.
Over a century ago, German paleontologist Eric Strommer unearthed significant dinosaur bones in the hills around the town of Gebel Dest.
You’ll recognize it as Spinosaurus, the tyrannosaurus-like animal that fights with T-Rex at the end of the film “Jurassic Park III,” if you’ve seen it.
Bawiti has a wealth of historic sites that are just waiting to be discovered.
After a long day of touring in the desert, you may relax in the oasis’s hot springs, which come from the ground and wash away the sand.
The Alexander’s Temple in Alexandria, Egypt, is a historically significant building.
Only one of its sort remains in Egypt, and it may be located on the path from Bahariya to Siwo, indicating that Alexander may have returned through Bahariya after seeing Siwa’s oracle.
After going past the eerie and dusty settlement of Bawiti, one enters the Black Desert.
Manganese in the rocks of the Black Desert has been oxidized by the air, making them black.
