katie in cairo, egypt

Last weekend I found myself climbing through the Bahariyya Desert Oasis in a beat up land rover with Sayed, my American friends Krystina, Nick, and Evan, two Danish girls from school, a Brazilian tourist couple, and a few local Bedouins. We set out early Friday morning on a bus from Cairo that dropped us four hours later in one of the small towns in Bahariyya. Inside the town, which consisted of about 8,000 villagers who only were able to receive electric power in the last five years, we met up with our two drivers and packed into two separate "Egypt Cars," or land rovers to take us from there. Our camping gear was already packed, and all we had to do was pick up some fresh chickens and vegetables from the local market before we set off.

Though clearly we already were "in the desert," with only vast expanses of sand as far as I could see, we drove on down the single road for several more hours until we reached the Black Desert. From here the desert floor turns from beige to black. The landscape is covered with volcanic-shaped mountains covered in black powder-like ash. We began our off-roading tour here until we reached the Chrystal Mountain, which is a small funny mounding shape of rock, but when you look closely, you can see it sparkle--it is made purely of chrystal quartz. We hopped out of the land rovers and climbed up to see the surrounding view of glinting mountains strewn about the vast desert sands. After a quick break we climbed back into the cars and drove through the slippery sands until sunset to a small cave formed by the 1991 earthquake in Egypt. Though there didn't appear to be any visible forms of life as far as I could detect, I'm sure the cave made quite a cozy home for an abundant number of snakes and scorpians, which thank God I did not run into.

As the sun slipped behind the desert rocks and statue-like mountains, we piled back into the cars and set off for a good camping spot in the White Desert. It was completely dark by the time we arrived, and so we immediately set up camp under the stars. Our guides cooked a feast for dinner, and after our bellies were full the sound of the drums they brought along with them started up. They began murmering sounds from old Bedouin tunes, and as the rhythym of the drums drove on we all began to sing and dance together.

When we were finally exhausted, the camp fire dwindled and we settled down in our blankets to sleep under the stars. Never in my life have I seen such stars. And the Milky Way, it was as if I could reach my hand overhead and pull it closer to me in my sleep. The silence of the desert is like nothing else. Especially compared to the neverending driving streets of Cairo. I don't think I've ever actually "heard" silence like this before. It's as if your ears are swallowed into the thick blackness of the night, and you are underwater hearing your own heartbeat. My soul drifted off into the wandering desert night as I slept until being awoken by rays of sunlight peaking over the edge of the blindingly white sand. As the light rose in the sky, the mystical shapes of white formations began to appear all around us. The chalky white monoliths, called inselbergs, appear as if in a surrealist painting by Salvador Dali, and I felt as if I was in another world, on the moon maybe. Wherever I was, it was not this Earth.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, the heat reminded us that it was time to move on. After a quick breakfast of tea, bread, and cheeses, we packed up the landrovers again and headed back through the fossil scattered desert back to the Black Desert. We reached a large volcanic shaped mountain and hiked to the top where we could see the expanse of the black ash. It's amazing how quickly the one desert transforms into the other. It truly reminded me of the power of nature, the mysteriousness of God. What a world this is, and so unseen even to most human eyes. Atop the black desert mountain, I felt as if I could have just as soon expected to see a Brontossaurus totter past as I would anything. We were walking the Earth of at least 10,000 years ago after all.

Full of sand, beaten by the sun, and throats parched for water we drove back into a small town in the Oasis where a "fresh" sulfer spring was filled with local bathers. Desperately wanting to feel the relief of the water, I threw on some extra shirt and pants and jumped in the smelly cool bath and washed. It's hard to believe that something so obscenely gross could feel so refreshing. However, by this time my definitions of "clean" and "gross" had adapted pretty drastically, and I found myself enjoying and appreciating comforts unthought of before.

Healthily exhausted and serenely at peace, we arrived back to Cairo around 9pm. The desert is like a dream to me. A dream and an escape from the pollution, destitution, and desperation I sometimes feel while in Cairo. I'm glad to again have my shower and clean bed sheets, but will truly miss the raging silence of the desert.

posted by Katie Warren @ 1:57 PM