Visit to the Siwa Oasis

During my recent break from my Arabic studies, I arranged for Irene to visit Cairo. The trip was meant to be a familiarisation trip for her so that she can cope better when we return to Cairo in Mar 08 with our young boy. Besides walking about our office's neighbourhood, I also brought her to City Stars, Maadi and the Coptic Cairo. We also did some house hunting and found two suitable apartments. Negotiation is in progress and hopefully we can seal the lease even before we arrive in Mar 08.


As this may be the only chance we can get together with our boy in the good care of my mother-in-law, we went on our second honeymoon to the Siwa Oasis in the far-flung corner of Egypt near to the Libya border. It took us 10 hours on the bus to get there. To break the long journey, we stayed a night each at Marsa Matrouh, a beach resort on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea six hours away from Cairo. As it was winter time, the little town was quite asleep and the beaches were deserted. The view was magnificent and the Beau Site Hotel we stayed in was quite good. We thoroughly enjoyed the quiet time together.


It took us another four hours on the bus to get to the Siwa Oasis. The rustic oasis was quite busy as winter is the peak season for tourists. Naturally, tourists were abound but due to its remoteness, the place was not overcrowded. The hotel we stayed in, Siwa Safari Paradise Hotel, was not full. On the first day, we rented bicycles and visited the various tourist spots in the oasis - Shali, Cleopatra Bath, Temple of Amun and the Temple of the Oracle, which Alexander the Great visited in 331 BC to seek divine recognition as the son of Amun. On the next day, we got a 4x4 landcruiser and a driver-guide for a full day safari desert trip deep into the Great Sand Sea. The honeymoon was great!


Click here to see the photo album.