The giant sandcastle-looking-thing, 3km east of town on the road to Cairo, is Mahmoud Eed’s Oasis Heritage Museum. Inspired by Badr’s Museum in Farafra, its creator captures, in clay, scenes from traditional village life, among them men hunting, women weaving and a painful-looking barber/doctor encounter. There’s also a display of old oasis dresses and jewellery.
Sadly, Mahmoud Eed has died, leaving the exhibit very dusty and a bit in disarray.