Mark Read

Western Desert

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all but essential travel to Egypt's Western Desert.

Older than the Pyramids, as sublime as any temple, Egypt’s Western Desert is a vast sweep of elemental beauty. The White Desert's shimmering vista of surreal rock formations and the ripple and swell of the Great Sand Sea's mammoth dunes are simply bewitching.

Within this intense landscape five oases, shaded by palm plantations and blessed by a plethora of natural hot and cold springs, provide a glimpse of rural Egyptian life. Get lost exploring Al Qasr's squiggling narrow lanes in Dakhla. Watch sunset sear across the countryside atop Gebel Al Ingleez in Bahariya. Take a stroll amid Siwa's sprawling date palms. Once you've finished adventuring, kick back and just enjoy the laid-back pace of oasis life.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Western Desert.

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Fortress of Shali
Central Siwa is dominated by the spectacular organic shapes of the remains of this 13th-century mud-brick fortress. Built from kershef (chunks of salt from the lake just outside town, mixed with rock and plastered in local clay), the labyrinth of huddled buildings was originally four or five storeys high and housed hundreds of people. A path leads over the slumping remnants, past the Old Mosque with its chimney-shaped minaret, to the top for panoramic views. For centuries, few outsiders were admitted inside the fortress – and even fewer came back out to tell the tale. But three days of rain in 1926 caused more damage than any invader had managed and, over the last decades, inhabitants moved to newer and more comfortable houses with running water and electricity. Now only a few buildings around the edges are occupied or used for storage. A pathway from the central square leads to the top for great views over the oasis. Several foreigners and Egyptians are doing up houses in the old town; some are available for overnight stays.
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Al Hayz Water Education Center
This water museum is a real treat, with an informative introduction to Egypt's water resources and problems, the geology of the Western Desert, traditional agriculture and architecture in the oases, and what needs to be done to deal with water shortage. The museum is housed in a wonderful building, an example of sustainable architecture, in basalt and rammed earth. Tours are given in Arabic and English by volunteers. This is a welcome break when visiting the small oasis of Al Hayz between Farafra and Bahariya, next to the Ain Gomma.
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Badr’s Museum
Badr Abdel Moghny is a passionate self-taught artist whose gift to his town has become its only real sight. Badr’s Museum showcases his work, much of which records traditional oasis life but in the most inventive way. Badr, who seems unstoppable, continues to experiment, adding a sculpture garden on his roof and working with pigments found in his surroundings. His distinctive style of painting and sculpture in mud, stone and sand has won him foreign admirers; he exhibited successfully in Europe in the early 1990s and later in Cairo.
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Ain Gomma
Ain Gomma is one of the most magnificent springs around. Cool, crystal-clear water gushes into this small pool surrounded by the vast desert expanse, and the funkiest cafe in all of the oases sits beside it. Situated near the town of Al Hayz, you can take a Dakhla-bound bus here, but it’s difficult to get back without your own transport. Many safari trips to the White Desert will stop here en route. The spring is 45km south of Bawiti.
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Black Desert
The change in the desert floor from beige to black, 50km south of Bawiti, signals the beginning of the Black Desert. Formed by the erosion of the mountains, which have spread a layer of black powder and stones over the peaks and plateaus, it looks like a landscape straight out of Hades. The Black Desert is a popular stop-off for tours running out of Bahariya Oasis and is usually combined with a White Desert tour. Other sights in the region include Gebel Gala Siwa, a pyramid-shaped mountain that was formerly a lookout post for caravans coming from Siwa, and Gebel Az Zuqaq, a mountain known for the red, yellow and orange streaks in its limestone base. There is an easily climbed path leading to the mountain's peak. Ordinary vehicles are able to drive the first kilometre or so off the Bahariya–Dakhla road into the White or Black Deserts, but only 4WD vehicles can advance deeper into either area. Some travellers simply get off the bus and take themselves into the White Desert – but be sure you have adequate supplies, and remember that traffic between the neighbouring oases is rarely heavy. The megaliths west of the highway are easy to access by foot, as are the so-called mushrooms to the east; the weirdest wonderland of white hoodoos is quite far to the east, and walking there would be a real haul. Bir Regwa, a small spring situated along the highway at one of the park entrances, usually has water; it’s good to know where it is (just in case), though best not to rely on it. Even though it is not allowed to camp or go into the desert, the tourist police turns a blind eye to safari outfits in Bahariya organising short trips to the Black and White Desert.
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Shiatta
Sixty kilometres west of Siwa Town, this stunning salt lake on the edge of the Great Sand Sea is ringed by palm trees. It’s a popular stopover for migratory birds – including flamingos – and gazelles may be seen here too. The lake once reached all the way to Siwa Town, and an ancient boat lies somewhere 7m below the surface. At the time of writing the lake was off limits for foreign visitors.
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Bir Wahed
A favourite Siwa excursion is the freshwater lake at Bir Wahed, 15km away on the edge of the Great Sand Sea. Once over the top of a dune, you come to a hot spring, the size of a large jacuzzi, where sulphurous water bubbles in a pool and runs off to irrigate a garden. Cooling down in the lake, then watching the sun setting over the dunes while soaking in a hot spring, is a surreal experience. The thorns in this rose are the mosquitoes that bite at sunset and the fact that a permit is necessary to visit Bir Wahed. Because it’s far from town, women can wear bathing suits here without offending locals. Bir Wahed can only be reached by 4WD, so if you don’t have your own, you’ll need to hire a guide and car. At the time of writing the spring was closed because of a fire, but it was due to reopen soon.
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Gebel Al Mawta
This small hill, at the northern end of Siwa Town, is honeycombed with rock tombs peppered with wall paintings. Its name, Gebel Al Mawta, means 'Mountain of the Dead' and most of the tombs here date back to the 26th dynasty, Ptolemaic and Roman times. Only 1km from the centre of town, the tombs were used by the Siwans as shelters when the Italians bombed the oasis during WWII. The best paintings are in the Tomb of Si Amun, where beautifully coloured reliefs portray the dead man – thought to be a wealthy Greek landowner or merchant – making offerings and praying to Egyptian gods. Also interesting are the unfinished Tomb of Mesu-Isis, with a beautiful depiction of cobras in red and blue above the entrance; the Tomb of Niperpathot, with inscriptions and crude drawings in the same reddish ink you can see on modern Siwan pottery; and finally the Tomb of the Crocodile, whose badly deteriorating wall paintings include a yellow crocodile representing the god Sobek.
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Temple of the Oracle
The 26th-dynasty Temple of the Oracle sits in the northwest corner of the ruins of Aghurmi village. Built in the 6th century BC, probably on top of an earlier temple, it was dedicated to Amun (occasionally referred to as Zeus or Jupiter Ammon) and was a powerful symbol of the town’s wealth. It is believed Alexander the Great was declared son of Amun in this temple. There are many stories about the foundation of the temple. One tells of two priestesses who were banished from Thebes to the desert. One founded the Temple of Dodona in Greece, the other the Temple of the Oracle here in Aghurmi. One of the most revered oracles in the ancient Mediterranean, its power was such that some rulers sought its advice while others sent armies to destroy it. Although treasure hunters have been at work here and the buttressed temple was poorly restored in the 1970s, it remains an evocative site, steeped in history. Surrounded by the ruins of Aghurmi, it has awesome views over the Siwan oasis palm-tops.