The Western Desert

Up really early, packed and on the bus by 7, we headed out of town and due west. With our new secret police on board- his name is Muhammed (really), and our police detail in tow, we headed west past the pyramids and toward the sand dunes.

The four lane highway weaved through heavily populated complexes of new apartment buildings and shopping malls. All along it was unimaginable that these millions of people got all of their water and power from just the Nile River. Just when we thought we were leaving a populated area, another division of several hundred ten story apartment buildings would pop up on the next rise.

Eventually, about an hour and a half out, we finally left the marks of civilization. Tall sand dunes and a narrow two lane road pointing to the horizon. The occasional oil well dotted the sand and small outposts came and went quickly as we sped by.

We stopped along the side of the road and the peeing petunias took a walk. Another hour west and it was time for more gas. The "rest area" this tome was pretty rough with the good ole hole in the floor...yuk! We turned southwest and headed for Bahariya Oasis.

About a hundred kilometers out from the oasis the payment alternated with piled gravel and at times simply packed sand and gravel. The landscape changed to sandy mesas with rocky outcropping. Black gravel alternated with pale sand. We past a small oasis and police checkpoint and we were back to paved road. As we descended we found ourselves in a canyon prior to arriving at Bahariya.