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    • TravelerÄgypten
      1
      Day 4

      Siwa Oase

      January 3 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      Siwa Oase, Salzseen und heiße Quellen besucht. Sonnenuntergang in der Wüste und BBQ

    • TravelerWorld tour
      1
      Day 12

      Siwa Oasis

      March 4, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Escaped from the stress and disorder and reached the calm and peace in Siwa Oasis. After a longlong night bus we got to this "secret" spot almost in Libia and enjoyed going back 500 years ago. Slowing our pace and rythm and immersing ourselves in this smiley and beautiful place.

      🔍 Some facts: you might realise when you get here that there are no local woman around. This is because woman in this town can't leave their home unless accompanied by a man (even if the man is a 6 year old kid, who will always have more vote and power than the wife). And even if you do see a woman, you won't even be able to see their eyes. Nevertheless you can see tourists and people who moved from big cities dressed up westernly, and locals are okay with that. For this reason you see very young kids in charge of everything in the town, shopping, driving... We even got a 10 year old taxi driver once 🥲
      📍Essentials: Salt Lakes, Hot Spring at night, biking around the town and getting lost on the oasis
      🏠 Accomodation: Siwa Inn (a bit far from the center and breakfast is a but disappointing, besides this the place is great for relaxing and enjoying)
      💡Travelling tips: bring a nice warm sweater-blanket and earplugs for surviving the night bus trip, assuming that your chances of sleeping through it are quite low. Also be prepared for all the stops among security controls. You might even have to go down and open your bag. As a young woman I was considered harmless and skipped most of them (even saved my luggage in a different place than everyone else). Sexism has its pros sometimes I guess 🤷      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelMore Egypt
      Day 5

      Great Sand Sea

      December 9, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      The great sand sea is the name given to the area of the eastern Sahara located in western Egypt and eastern Libya. By far, most of this desert is covered by sand dunes from which the name derives.
      The 1st picture is a dune typical of most of the area. But there is more than just sand here, albeit in relatively smaller proportions. The 2nd picture overlooks an obviously popular hot spring. The 3rd picture is another small spring: this one cold fresh water.
      The 4th picture looks at some of the rock that gets exposed. It is mostly limestone and can have a almost moonscape appearance.
      The 5th picture is another interesting landform.
      And, of course, no set of desert pictures would be complete unless there was a desert sunset.      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelMore Egypt
      Day 6

      Mountain of the Dead, Siwa

      December 10, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      The mountain of the dead is a significant archaeological site in Siwa. It dates to the same period as the Temple of Amun (see another post) and was an important necropolis of the 26th Pharaonic dynasty. Burials here extend well beyond that time and include Greek and Roman tombs as well. As with many things, the higher on the hill the tomb is located, the more important the tomb occupant would be.
      The 1st picture looks up to the main part of the hill from across a portion of the site. Some of the carved tombs are visible. The 2nd picture looks from the top of the hill over the area where the 1st picture was taken. You can see many tomb sites that have been excavated and backfilled.
      The last 3 pictures were taken in tombs that were excavated and are open. These tombs are carved down into the rock on the level where the 1st picture was taken. Local legend being what local legend can be: one such legend suggests that Alexander the Great's tomb may be here, but there is no evidence to support that, at least not yet.
      In the 3rd picture, the "box" to the right is a mini olive press for the deceased to use in the afterlife.
      The 4th picture seems to me to be an Egyptian tomb as the pictures on the back wall are Isis and Osiris.
      The last picture is another tomb decorated in Egyptian motifs.      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelMore Egypt
      Day 4

      Siwa Lakes

      December 8, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      There are many (some say hundreds) of salt pools and lakes around the Siwa Oasis. There are 4 main lakes with varying degrees of saltiness.
      The 1st picture looks over a small part of one of the large lakes with some high ground typical of the area. The 2nd picture looks across another area with another rise.
      One of the main industries here is salt. There are hundreds of evaporation ponds all fed with water from the lakes. The 3rd picture looks over the flats where ponds are, with one visible. It isn't only an industrial activity. The 4th picture shows raked up salt by one of the lakes where the water level has dropped      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelMore Egypt
      Day 4

      Siwa Amun Temple

      December 8, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      Perhaps the best known story about Siwa has to do with Alexander the Great. While building Alexandria, he came here to visit the famous Oracle of Amun whose temple which dates to at least the 7th century BCE when the present temple was built.
      This post follows a hypothetical version of Alexander's visit. The 1st picture looks over the well of purification and up to a part of the temple. Ritual cleansing was required to enter the temple, and it seems right that Alexander would not have been excepted from this. Amazingly, there is still water in this well.
      The 2nd picture looks through the series of gates into the progressively holier portions of the site.
      Finally, in the 3rd picture, Alexander reaches the Holy of Holies, the Oracle chamber where he tells us that the Oracle proclaimed him a son of Amun and rightful pharaoh. This is also an astronomical space. The window to the left would mark the equinox when the light fell exactly on the stature of Amun that would have been in the center of the room.
      The 4th picture looks across the temple. This is likely the remains of the sight Alexander would have taken in after receiving the Oracle's message.
      The final picture looks across the coronation chamber where Alexander received the crown of Egypt      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelMore Egypt
      Day 6

      Shali Fortress

      December 10, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      This fortress was started in the 11th century and was the center of the Oasis until the early 20th century when unusual rains and flooding devastated the structure. People were still living in it's dwellings until that time. Construction of the fortress was with soil/salt blocks called kershef cut from nearby that were stacked together with rock and plastered using clay.
      The 1st picture looks up to the fortress from the street that winds from the modern town. The tower is the minaret of the old mosque completed in 1203 as the worship space for the town. The 2nd picture looks over the well to some of the lower level dwellings in the fortress. The dungeon is down below where the people are sitting. The 3rd picture is taken from the top of the fortress and looks over the ruins of the old town inside the fortress walls. A major renovation project is under way.
      The 4th picture looks down on the main courtyard of the fortress, and the last picture looks over another section of the fortress. The minaret is again visible.      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelMore Egypt
      Day 4

      Siwa Oasis

      December 8, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      Siwa is a remote oasis not far from the border with Libya. Settlement here dates to at least the 10th millennium BCE.
      My 1st impression is that it is far larger than I imagined. It is about 80 km by 20 km. So it's a lot more than the romanticized pond or spring surrounded by palm trees, though all those things are here just on auch larger scale.
      The 1st picture looks over a portion of the oasis to give a sense of the extent and scale if this place.
      The 2nd picture looks through a stand of palm trees like those visible in the 1st picture. I can understand the attraction of such places: it is noticeably cooler in there.
      The 3rd picture is the so called Cleopatra's Spring, though there is no record of the famous Cleopatra coming here. It is probably the best known of the springs around the oasis. I'm told there are as many as 240 springs here.
      The 4th picture is in the old city in that section seen in the picture taken from Shali Fortress (see another post). There are efforts under way to revive the old town for tourism. Hints of that effort can be seen here.
      The 5th picture looks across the park in the main square. For me, this pictures typifies Siwa as the combination of sand desert and oasis that it is.
      The last picture is in a different section of the oasis. These are Ronan tombs carved into the cliff face. I'm told that that is is also where the Roman settlement had located their administrative facilities and religious temples too (at least the funerary temples).      Read more

    • skip's retirement travelEgypt
      Day 15

      El Alamein

      April 23, 2021 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      The site of the major battle of WW II where Rommel's advance across north Africa was stopped by the British army under Montgomery. The pictures are taken at the memorial cemetery.
      The 1st 4 are of different parts of the main portion of the memorial and cemetery. The 5th picture looks across to the separate Australian memorial. The last looks out over what had been a part of the battlefield, now with buildings developed.
      This area is developing rapidly as I'm told that current Egyptian President al Sisi será Alamein developing to be "the Dubai of Egypt." In fact, mist of the way from Alexandria to Alamein is developing, looking like it wants to the "Riviera of Egypt "      Read more

    • Rita YeeInto Ancient History
      Day 17

      El Alamein, a mark of the end

      January 25, 2019 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      Last day in Egypt, one more activity. The military museum and the cemetery at El Alamein to commemorate the soldiers who died in the war. A sombre of ending the tour. The grounds are eerily quiet but peaceful, as the sounds of birds chirping fills the air.

      It was straight back to Cairo after, and off to Cyrpus for me. A 450am flight meant leaving the hotel at 1am.      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Muḩāfaz̧at Maţrūḩ, Muhafazat Matruh, Matruh, مطروح

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