The Western Desert and Goodbye to Egypt

Assuming all goes well at the Sudanese border tomorrow this should be my last post from Egypt. I am now back in Aswan awaiting the ferry that will take me up the Nile to Sudan.

Anyway after a few relaxing days in Dahab, I went back to Cairo to sort out my visa for Sudan and was pleasantly suprised to receive my visa very quickly and efficiently in just a couple of hours. I wasn't quite so pleased at the US $100 it cost me though. I had given myself a few days to sort out the visa and now found myself with a few spare days on my hands and rather than spend them in Cairo I made a trip out to the western desert and the oasis of Baharia.

Baharia itself is not such an exciting place, one the attractions being a hot spring, which is actually just a petrol powered pump spurting out hot water. I'm not entirely sure why this is thought to be a tourist attraction. But Baharia is the base to do a trip out into the white desert and spend a night under the stars. I set off with my guide Ahmed in a rather dilapadated 28 year old 4x4. Somehow the jeep made the journey into the desert and as I watched the sun set Ahmed cooked us a great meal. After dinner over a shesha he told me his tail of woe; his wife has been ill for six months. This in itself didn't seem to upset him too much, it was more the fact that in all this time he wasn't having any sex. After the sun went down the stars came out and the desert looked great lit by a half-moon.

The next day I made the journey back to Cairo and then straight onto the night train to Aswan. I have enjoyed my time in Egypt, but have to say it can be hard work at times putting up with the hassle. It seems to slowly wear you down. It is a shame that, although there are only small number people in this country trying to hassle or scam you, they are the ones you seem to meet most. I have been told that this will not be the case in Sudan so I look forward to leaving tomorrow with a sense of relief and excited expectation.