Well- why not?
I have lived in Egypt now for nearly 3 years and still feel I have seen soooo little of it.
My friends Nick, Marte, Sherif and I decided to explore a little so last sunday took us to Fayoum 'gateway of the Western desert'! I had been told, by another friend Sugrah, that the waterfalls there were well worth the trip. Its 170km south of Cairo and a fairly long drive, but with a car full of friends, and some music from my 'happy songs' playlist, the journey was part of the fun!! Especially with Boom Boom (a local caffine drink like red bull- essential for an early start since I dont drink coffee!)
The whole place was beautiful!
We went to the Wadi el-rayan and if we had thought to pack a picnic then we could have stayed for a whole day- actually probably overnight too (since they have a campsite!). The area is a prtoected area and the rock formations , sand dunes and fabulous lakes are to die for! A photographers dream come true, esp at sunset.
We took a small boat out onto water that was smooth like glass, we walked in river water that froze your feet like ice, 
we even climbed a cliff face that pushed our fear barriers! 
We saw all sorts of birds including birds of prey (seemingly they have 169 species of bird in the area and they have a hide for those interested in spending more time watching them). There were snake tracks too
(but thankfully no snakes- although the thought did add to the excitment while wading knee deep in the icy water!). Actually- interesting fact- marte and I were much more able to walk barefoot on the slippery rocks than either Nick or Sherif.... we put it down to our dancers training of balance, foot placement and of course- hard calloused feet!!!!! Oh- and the cameras tested our posing abilities too....
The silence was deafening, and the oxygen went to our heads.... fantastic to get away from wonderful, but, polluted Cairo.
like I said- if we had taken food with us, we would have stayed longer- as it was our stomachs called us away too soon............. so we didn't get to the Valley of the Whales (where they have discovered 40 million year old whale skelatons in the sands of the desert!!!!) or to the pyramids or the pottery sites the area is also known for.
Next time isa !!! (isa is shorthand for inshallah!!!)!
(more photos will be added as soon as I can get them downloaded!!!!)
I have lived in Egypt now for nearly 3 years and still feel I have seen soooo little of it.
My friends Nick, Marte, Sherif and I decided to explore a little so last sunday took us to Fayoum 'gateway of the Western desert'! I had been told, by another friend Sugrah, that the waterfalls there were well worth the trip. Its 170km south of Cairo and a fairly long drive, but with a car full of friends, and some music from my 'happy songs' playlist, the journey was part of the fun!! Especially with Boom Boom (a local caffine drink like red bull- essential for an early start since I dont drink coffee!)
The whole place was beautiful!
We went to the Wadi el-rayan and if we had thought to pack a picnic then we could have stayed for a whole day- actually probably overnight too (since they have a campsite!). The area is a prtoected area and the rock formations , sand dunes and fabulous lakes are to die for! A photographers dream come true, esp at sunset.
We took a small boat out onto water that was smooth like glass, we walked in river water that froze your feet like ice, we even climbed a cliff face that pushed our fear barriers! We saw all sorts of birds including birds of prey (seemingly they have 169 species of bird in the area and they have a hide for those interested in spending more time watching them). There were snake tracks too
(but thankfully no snakes- although the thought did add to the excitment while wading knee deep in the icy water!). Actually- interesting fact- marte and I were much more able to walk barefoot on the slippery rocks than either Nick or Sherif.... we put it down to our dancers training of balance, foot placement and of course- hard calloused feet!!!!! Oh- and the cameras tested our posing abilities too....The silence was deafening, and the oxygen went to our heads.... fantastic to get away from wonderful, but, polluted Cairo.
like I said- if we had taken food with us, we would have stayed longer- as it was our stomachs called us away too soon............. so we didn't get to the Valley of the Whales (where they have discovered 40 million year old whale skelatons in the sands of the desert!!!!) or to the pyramids or the pottery sites the area is also known for.
Next time isa !!! (isa is shorthand for inshallah!!!)!
(more photos will be added as soon as I can get them downloaded!!!!)
1 comment:
Hey Lorna I stopped by your blog, and your trekking of different areas looks great.
I follow other travel bloggers and their first written reaction to Cairo always cracks me up because of the initial blast. But the wonderful personality of Cairo is a rarity.
By the way have you visited the White Desert?
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