Egypt
Seattle PI (Rob Hodges)
- Travel: El Kharga Driving Adventure
xmarksthescot (Barb T.) With some great photos of car parts! I'm back in Egypt for a week or so of field work in the Western Desert. We had an entertaining day last Thursday trying to get from Alexandria to El Kharga, an oasis town in the center of...
- Photo For Today. Oh Dear.
Trouble at Three Castles (west of Gilf Kebir). We went on without the car, its driver and our cook, who stayed to wait for help to arrive from Cairo. Fortunately we had satellite phones so the situation was well under control and help was soon sent from...
- On The Trail Of Tourist Trash (3 Tons Of It) In The White Desert
Seattle Times (Andrew Stelzer) This article made me feel very cold. The White Desert is a remarkable place and I was only talking with a group of people the other day about the benefits or otherwise that tourism would have in terms of its total impact...
- Travel: Sinai Desert - Nomadic Wonder
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/travel/article2199084.ece"Guided by Muzeina Bedouins, on camel and on foot, we trail the caravan route along which Moses reputedly led the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land 33 centuries ago. It's...
- Desert Day Trips
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6594"A travel article on the Tour Egypt website about traveling in comfort in the oases of the Western Desert of Egypt: "You don’t have to be a diehard camper to enjoy the beauty of Egypt’s Western...
Egypt
Travel: Breaking down in the White Desert
Seattle PI (Rob Hodges)
You know you're in trouble when you're forced to flag down a camel caravan for help.
That's the situation my wife, Kate, and I were in the last morning of a three-day/two-night jeep trek in a fairly remote part of Egypt's White Desert. Our Land Cruiser would not start -- leaving us stuck several miles west of the only road between the Bahariya and Farafra oases.
We have both had to jump-start cars at one time or another but never a loaded-down Land Cruiser -- and never through thick desert sand. Even with the addition of two helpful guys from the camel crew, our group of six pushed to no avail.
The camel caravan was a tourist procession, which departed in the direction of the road with the promise to signal for help. That was cold comfort since it might have been hours or days before a four-wheel-drive vehicle capable of reaching us and pulling the Land Cruiser out of the sand happened along. It could have taken just as long for word to reach one of the oases via a random passer-by.
Fortunately, our situation was more hitch than hazard. Our driver and guide had satellite phones that could receive a signal from the top of nearby peaks (though the guys seemed reluctant to use them, perhaps out of pride). We could call the tour operator for help, and we had enough food and water in case it took all day to arrive.
- Travel: El Kharga Driving Adventure
xmarksthescot (Barb T.) With some great photos of car parts! I'm back in Egypt for a week or so of field work in the Western Desert. We had an entertaining day last Thursday trying to get from Alexandria to El Kharga, an oasis town in the center of...
- Photo For Today. Oh Dear.
Trouble at Three Castles (west of Gilf Kebir). We went on without the car, its driver and our cook, who stayed to wait for help to arrive from Cairo. Fortunately we had satellite phones so the situation was well under control and help was soon sent from...
- On The Trail Of Tourist Trash (3 Tons Of It) In The White Desert
Seattle Times (Andrew Stelzer) This article made me feel very cold. The White Desert is a remarkable place and I was only talking with a group of people the other day about the benefits or otherwise that tourism would have in terms of its total impact...
- Travel: Sinai Desert - Nomadic Wonder
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/travel/article2199084.ece"Guided by Muzeina Bedouins, on camel and on foot, we trail the caravan route along which Moses reputedly led the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land 33 centuries ago. It's...
- Desert Day Trips
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6594"A travel article on the Tour Egypt website about traveling in comfort in the oases of the Western Desert of Egypt: "You don’t have to be a diehard camper to enjoy the beauty of Egypt’s Western...