All posts tagged Desert

LAND OF EXTREMES: SURVIVE IN THE DESERT

By | June 11, 2014 | Be Prepared, Survival | Comments Off on LAND OF EXTREMES: SURVIVE IN THE DESERT

Deserts are some of the most unforgiving habitats on the planet, they are barren wastelands where only the hardiest of creatures can have a hope of surviving. They are harsh and cruel, exceptionally hot during the day, and very cold during the night. During colder periods of the year, temperatures can plummet below freezing come night-time. Distances are another dilemma in the desert, they are dangerously deceptive; objects in the distance seem very close that you can touch them, while in reality they are far enough you could probably perish before reaching them.

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SIWA: THE FIELD OF TREES

By | March 17, 2013 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | 1 Comment

By Susan Ryan

Siwa Oasis is the most westerly of Egypt’s oasis, about 725 km from Cairo, with Libya  just 50 km away. It is worth the trek even if your children usually ask “are we there yet?” after an hour of travelling. Reaching Siwa takes between eight and 10 hours by bus or car from Cairo, but if you break the journey up with stops in Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh you will better appreciate the variety of landscapes you pass through. If you have four days or more for your Siwa trip, it is ideal to have a day in one of those coastal cities before your immersion in desert for the last four hours of travel. Read more…

FAYOUM – PROVISIONS OF THE TRAVELLER

By | January 4, 2012 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure, Travel Chronicles | 1 Comment

 

By Mousha El-Haggar

Getting out of Cairo is always my favourite thing to do. I enjoy going to new places and experiencing new things that are outside of Cairo. This time around my trip was to Fayoum, a place I always wanted to go to but never had enough encouragement; people who live in the city are taken in by the city crowd and never want to leave their comfort zone. That; and many Egyptians don’t view travel within Egypt as a vacation, unless, of course, it’s to the beach! Recently, though, I had a friend who was planning a group trip to Fayoum and I decided it was time to go and experience it for myself. Read more…

SURVIVAL – BEDOUIN STYLE

By | October 3, 2011 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | Comments Off on SURVIVAL – BEDOUIN STYLE

By Islam El Shazly

Since the Napoleon’s ill-fated campaign against Egypt in the late 18th century and the world became enthralled with everything Pharaonic. Especially Europeans and Americans, they came by the boat load to see the tombs, temples, and palaces that were long forgotten or half-covered in sand, they came, saw, and recorded what they saw in vivid illustrations; the only record of what a lot of these ancient monuments looked like. Since then many of these monuments became lost again under the waters of Lake Nasser, or just simply collapsed for neglect. Read more…

WADI RISCH-RASCH

By | May 1, 2010 | Egypt, Off the Beaten Path, Travel + Leisure | 1 Comment

Dovecote.

A little desert trip labelled: “Following the footsteps of the last king of Egypt; King Farouk.”

by Naeem Mayet and Saaleha Bamjee
Photographs by Naeem Mayet

Sometimes, Cairo, with all of its rich fullness and grainy texture, displaces the mind’s quiet.

As both vanquisher and subduer, Al-Qahira fills the spaces between thoughts with its Life and Living.

You would imagine that in order to reclaim some of yourself, it would take a great many hours to escape the city’s penetrating charm.

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