Siwa Oasis
A Remote Oasis Of Date Palms And Salt Lakes Under The Mud Brick Ruin Of The Shali Fortress, With The Temple Of The Oracle That Alexander Came To Consult, Springs You Can Swim In, The Great Sand Sea On The Horizon And A Berber Language And Culture Distinct From The Rest Of Egypt · Siwa, Matrouh
Siwa lies in a depression near the Libyan border, five hundred and fifty kilometres from Cairo and three hundred from the nearest coast, and until a tarmac road reached it in the 1980s it was effectively a separate country - the people speak Siwi, a Berber language, keep their own customs and dress, and built their town as a single mud-brick fortress called Shali, which rain dissolved into a melted brown sculpture above the modern streets. Alexander came here in 331 BC to ask the Oracle of Amun whether he was a god, and the temple he visited still stands on its rock at Aghurmi. Around the palm groves are springs you can swim in, salt lakes the colour of milk, and the dunes of the Great Sand Sea beginning at the edge of the cultivation. It is a long way to come and the reason to do it is that nothing else in Egypt is remotely like it: no coach parties, no touts, dates and olives instead of souvenirs, and a culture that is conservative, intact and quietly welcoming if you dress and behave accordingly.
Oasis depression near the Libyan border, about 300 km south of Marsa Matrouh and 550 km west of Cairo, Siwa, Matrouh, Egypt
The oasis is a working town rather than a site: the Shali ruin, the Temple of the Oracle, the springs and the salt lakes are open ground with small or no charges and no fixed hours, although the temple and the small museum keep daytime hours. Siwa is a conservative Muslim community and that shapes the day more than opening times do - Friday midday is quiet, Ramadan changes everything, and women bathing at the springs are expected to cover up rather than wear a swimsuit. Desert trips into the Great Sand Sea run through local operators in the afternoon and overnight. Getting here is eight to ten hours by bus from Cairo or four from Marsa Matrouh, through checkpoints where passports are inspected; check current travel advice for the border region before setting out.