Discovering Siwa
Siwa is an oasis lying to the West of the Nile Valley. It is with very strong historical and cultural ties to the Nile Valley to the extent that Alexander the Great may have had it as the first thing he visits in Egypt upon Conquering it.
Today, Siwa offers for native Egyptians --along with Sinai mountains and beaches-- some of the most interesting visiting places after the Nile Valley countryside.
In this collaborative article, Siwa's culture, geography as well as all logistical details will be explained for the most intellectual explorers by the Community of SaharaSafaris.
Getting there
Siwa is 306 kms from Marsa matrouh to the southwest. It is about 800 ms from Cairo, 600 kms from Alexandria. It is connected by bus only to Matrouh and Alexandria, the bus leaves to Alexandria only once a day (as much as I remember about 10 p.m
from Siwa). From and to Matrouh the bus leaves 4 times a day at 7 and 10 am and 1 and 4 pm, the bus from and to Matrouh costs 12 LE, if
you missed the bus there are microbuses all the day to and from Maatrouh (for 13 L.E.).
Using private car is an easy way. Last time I was coming back from Siwa I was with someone who used to pass the way from Marouh to Siwa in the 70s, he was talking about how the gazelles / Ibex used to jump around.
Personally, I took the bus from Cairo to Matrouh at 12 midnight (50
L.E.) reached Matrouh about 6 a.m., couldn't wait for 7 a.m. but so I
took a microbus, arrived at Siwa 10:30 a.m. (still I have a full day
to enjoy).
I got a crazy idea that a visit to Siwa could be on a weekend leaving
Thursday night, arriving at Siwa Friday morning, leaving Siwa to
Matrouh Saturday night (about 8 p.m.) so as to reach Cairo early
enough on Sunday :), may be I'll try it one day.
Transportation in Siwa
1- Hire a bicycle: it is for 2 L.E./hour or 10 L.E./day, You can hire
one and do most of the visits in one day.
2- Donkey cart: written on it Siwa taxi, you can use it for short
distance, long distance and even you can make a deal for the complete
tour.
3- Hire a truck: for the long distances like the temples in the west,
the water springs east and west, price depend on both distance and
time, the prices I got are 50-70 L.E. to abo-shrouf depending on
time, 20 L.E. to the nearby hot spring in the east, 35 L.E. to
taghaghein island, 40 L.E. to the temples at Maraki. Those prices are
for one hour and increases by 20L.E. in case of more time (he didn't
tell me for each extra hour).
You can find such trucks downtown, I have one phone number 0129750865
his name is Soliman.
Where to stay
There are many hotels in Siwa with great variety in prices starting
from 10 L.E./night and upto 400 $/night :)
I'll start by cheap and budget hotels:
1- Cleopatra hotel: It is 5 minutes walk away from the main square,
good location in my opinion.
This hotel 3 levels of accommodation, the cheapest is room with
external bath for 17 L.E. and with internal bath for 23 L.E.
(single). The one I tried is a normal room with bath for 35-50 L.E.
(single-double). There are rooms with air condition and TV for 85
L.E. with an excellent view on Shali.
2- Kelany Hotel: In the main square, The normal room with bath and
viewing the market and Shali is for 50 L.E. with fan and water
heater, a sideview room with TV,receiver and fridge costs 70 L.E.,
triple room is for 120 L.E., the hotel has a restaurant on the roof
with good view of Shali and prepares normal and local food and is
reasonably priced.
3- Arous el-waha: Very close to the main square and looks very good,
prices start from 50 L.E., I thought it was much more than that
because of some comments I read on the internet.
4- Palm trees hotel: 2 buildings away from the main square, 15-25L.E.
for bed with external bath (sinle-double), 35 45 L.E. for double-
triple with internal bath, 50 L.E. for siwan chalet in the garden of
the hotel.
5- Youssef hotel: In the main square 10-16 L.E. single-double with
external bath, 15-25 L.E. single-double with internal bath. (not
advisable).
The following hotels most of them has a natural water pool and some
are 3 stars, prices are around 150 - 300 L.E.:
1- Kenoz shali lodge: few minutes walk from the main square, built
like the siwan style, there is a restaurant for anyone to dine.
2- Siwa safari paradise: has a natural water pool, 3 stars few
minutes walk to the main square.
3- Reem El-waha: has a natural water pool, on the way to Aghouramy
(more than 1 km from the main square), the rooms have TV, fan, water
heater and fridge, 90-140 L.E. for sinlge-double room, 110-160 L.E.
for single-double room with air condition all on B&B.
4- Taghaghein island: few kms from the main square, it is an island
in the western lake of Siwa with lodging and day use facility.
5- Mubarak hotel: Long walk from the main square, no pool, about 150
L.E. for B&B. Mainly used by official events. Very good hotel, I
tried it couple of years ago.
6- Penta: Relatively new, it is between the gardens in the eastern
side of Siwa. I'm not sure weather the owner is an SS member or is it
just similar names.
7- siwa Inn: Far from the main square, has a natural pool, prices
from 160 - 280 L.E.
Some interesting hotels and Adrar Amellal
In my previous message I forgot to state that there is moer than a
hotel (less than 100 L.E.) in the area of Gebel El-Dakroury, one of
them in called Amun hotel, they are usually used in the summer by
people who come to experience curing by sand burying.
Now to the some interesting hotels in Siwa:
1- The Desert rose hotel: "Desert rose" is not just a name for the
hotel but I find it giving the real meaning, after leaving
the "noisy" town and starting the journy after the signs for the
hotel, you pass a long distance (by bicylce/donkey cart/car) where
there are the gardens on your right side and the borders of the
desert for the other side.
It is located about 3 kms away from downtown on the way to bir wahed
in an area called "el-shahayem" (southwest of Siwa), I felt as if I'm
on the borders with the great sand sea as the old asphalt ends only
about 200 meters after the hotel (my personal conclusion that this
asphalt was paved when king Fouad visited the oasis). There are only
8 rooms with external bathroom, prices on B&B are 70, 120, 180 L.E.
for single, double or triple room respectively, but you'll add
everyday transportation to move anywhere (about 20 L.E. each time),
they can prepare siwan food. Check the photos in the link at the end
of this message.
2- Dream lodge: Located in the northeast of Siwa in the area of Gebel
el-mawata. It is built and operated by a local siwan person
named "Gamal Youssef" who is originally a builder, the lodge consists
of only 6 rooms (planning to build more) each room with internal
bathroom, TV, fan and heater. Prices on B&B are 120, 160, 190 L.E.
for sinlge, double or triple room respectively. Contact 046/4601745 ,
010/7625862, 010/0999255. The lodge is still new, and can prepare
siwan food.
Talking with Gamal (the owner) he told me about the problems that
he's facing as a local and not an investor to operate such a place.
He is a builder and built every part of it by his hands, cost him
material and finishing about 240,000 LE, now to get a license from
tourism authority he has to pay some fees where the lodge is priced
as a value of 2 million L.E.!!! He also stated that some non-
Egyptians bought houses in Siwa and operating them as lodging
facility, marketing through internet and accepting the guests
officially as friends not tourists, and so they pay nothing for
tourism authorities.
Anyway, enjoy the photos :)
3- Adrar Amellal Ecolodge: in the Siwan language it means the white
mountain, sometimes also called Ga'far for the Shrine of a good
person in the area named "Ga'far". It is located about 17 kms to the
west of Siwa at the western end of the western lake.
There are several places for having breakfast and dinner (about 5-6
places, check the photos), and sounds a great idea. Lunch is served
in the garden (between palm trees) where there is a natural water
pool.
Adrar Amellal Ecolodge is built using the siwan material in building,
in a normal room price may be 250 - 350 $/night and reaches 400
$/night in the royal suit (check the photo of it), as much as I know
a desert safari is included.
However, there are some people who disagree with such a lodge, some
locals say that a poor man can't build a house anymore as such
ecolodges increased the prices of building material, for example a
palm stem which used to cost 1 L.E. is now for 6 L.E. (six times the
price). Palm stem is used as ceiling and must be used in a special
time of the year otherwise it will need some "treatment" before being
used in building.
The ecolodge is know to be owned by an environmentalist/investor from
Cairo, but some people says that on paper it is owned by a local so
as to get a lot of funding/aid. Anyway, it is not my subject :)
enjoy the photos on the following link:
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/345595/index.html
One more "resort" I would like to point to is "Royal Cleopatra
international touristic resort", it is just behind Gebel El-Dakroury
and I guess it was targeting the guests of burying in sand, it is the
first photo in the previous link :):)
places to visit
There is a lot to be seen in Siwa, personally I went only twice, the
first was as a tourist among a group, the second was on my own.
The basic visits that could be made in one day are all in the eastern
side, You can start the day by visitng Gebel El-Mawta (mountain of
the dead), very close to the main square to the north, then start the
following from the main square: The Oracle temple, then the destroyed
temple of Amun know as "Um e'beida", then Cleopatra spring, then
Gelel El-Dakroury (El-Dakroury mountain), then back to the main
square where you can end the visits at Shali, at sunset you can go to
Fatans islands on the wetern lake.
There previous tour could be done by bicycle, donkey cart or car but
for the first two will, take more time. There is a professional siwan
archeologist for such a tour if you're interested, his name
is "Fatehy Diab", he also has some great researches, I'll place his
contacts on SS database soon.
The house of Siwa is a must see.
There is also Siwa museum behind Gebel el-mawta but I didnt't visit
it.
Far to the east there is "Abo Shrouf" where is a water spring for
swimming and a lot of beautiful scenes, it is about 25 kms to the
east of Siwa.
In the west (about 20 kms) there is an area called "el-maraki" where
there is more than a temple to be visited, I didn't visit it yet.
Siwa is famous also by desert safari, there are several shops in the
market for such a reason.
There is also the handcraft centre at the entrance of the oasis in
the north (can't remember the exact name).
Qaret om el-sagheir is a small oasis 130 kms from Siwa, and need
special permission tobe visited.
Some description for most of the mentioned places will be in the
following messages.
Shali
hali in the siwan language means "town", sometimes also it is called
the citadel.
It was buit in 1203 to protect the siwans from attacks. It is built
from "karsheif" which is mainly from the local salty soil in Siwa. It
was partially destroyed in 3 days heavy rain in 1926.
Shali used to have one main gate that closes by sunset and was
called "el-bab enshal" (as much as I remember it mean the main gate),
it was divided between eastern siwans and western siwans, each living
in the east/west half of Shali. The houses sometimes reached 7 & 8
levels (floors) as there was no chance for horizontal extentions.
My aunt who visited Siwa in the 80s three times told me that there
were people still living in Shali and didn't leave it, and that you
have to be with a local to have the chance to "discover" all the way
between its streets.
To compare Siwa before the heavy rains and now please check the link
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/344279/index.html
in the third photo, you'll notice new buildings down Shali, it is a
hotel less than 2 years old and is named "el-bab enshal" also made by
the same owner of adrar amellal.
Aghourmy: The oracle and the broken rock
The oracle temple:
Siwa is Famous in history by the oracle temple where Alexander the
great trvelled for almost 18 days in the desert to visit. No one
knows what he was told there but he coquered the world after that.
The oracle temple is located on a huge rock called "Aghourmy" about 3
kms to the east of the main square, Aghourmy rock is suffering old
age and is almost broken (split to two halves) from the place beneath
the oracle, but some restoration work was done to save the temple
from collapsing.
Over years people started to build their houses on the top of
Aghourmy and around the temple, but they're now ruins. The
restoration mission started by restoration of the mosque there to win
the respect and cooperation of the locals.
In the rocks of the wall of the temple, there are signs for marine
fossils.
(photos will be in another message)
Temple of "Um Eibeida":
Not far from the oracle temple, this temple was completely destroyed
in 1898 by an officer to build a house from rocks, that time there
was no kind of awareness towards archaeological sites. However,
construction of the temple and the drawings on its walls was
previously registered by some traveler/explorer.
Cleopatra spring, the mountains and Fatnas island
Cleopatra Spring:
To the east of Siwa, it is believed that Cleopatra used this spring
for bathing. In the 90s of the 20th century, the wall of the spring
was covered by ceramic!! now it is removed to keep its original look.
People swim in the pool, but ladies must show some respect to the
local community traditions and ethics by not showing much of skin
(bikini should not be wore). Check the photos to see how local kids
look strangely (and may by offended) at some tourists not respecting
their culture.
Gebel El-Dakroury (El-Dakroury mountain):
The mountain is to the east of Siwa, famous for curing rheumatic
disease by burying in the sand, usually in the summer (June, July &
August). At this mountain the annual celebration takes place, the
annual celebration lasts for three days usually the full moon (or
around) in October after the dates and olives harvest season.
There is more than one opinion about how the mountain gain its name,
the one I remember is that the area were a slave trading point, where
slaves used to come from Dakar. (sorry can't remember other opinions
now).
Gebel el-mawta (Mountain of the dead):
Located in the northern part of the oasis, it is the first
archaeological site you meet on arriving to the oasis (it will be to
the left). It contains many tombs from the pharaonic time, four of
them having drawings on their walls. It was used by siwans and
english soldiers as a refugee in the world war II, and so, several
drawings/paintings were destroyed or removed and taken by english
soldiers. If you know any who got such paintings you can help to get
more info about the tombs' owners. There are some ruins infront of
the mountain.
The big mosque is just off the main square on the way to Gebel el-
mawta, it was build by King Fouad, and there is a shrine beside it.
Fatanas island:
it is an island in the western salty lake, famous with the
magnificent sunset view. The salty lake was created from agricultural
sewage water. However, few years ago an agricultural sewage project
took place to solve the problem of excessive waste water taking the
borders of water away from the island, but tourism to the island
wasn't affected. The locals say that the project was just like
a "pain killer" and not "curing" the problem. There is a fresh water
spring where people can swim.
Please check the photos on the following link
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/345617/index.html
The house of Siwa: The Grandmother... and the gun
The house of Siwa:
It is built recently to describe how the traditional houses of Siwa
were built, it also shows how the daily life used to be, the
traditional dresses and the jewelry.
In the entrance of the house there are three 'ladies' wearing three
different dresses used to be wore by the bride on the first, third
and seventh days after the wedding, on the first day for her friends
(ladies of course), on the third day for her aunts, and on the
seventh day for mother (yes, the mother doesn't come except on the
seventh day). Check the photos (the link in the previous message) for
more details.
There is a warm corner in the house where the grandmother used to
sit every night and gather the children around her for story telling,
stories about their history, heroes and ethics. The guide said
sadly "but now the hero on TV is the one having the gun in his hand
not the one with good manners", I heard it couple of years ago, but
understood it last October when I attended the celebration, ALL the
kids having the plastic gun in their hand and "shooting" each other,
Personally I was shot twice before the kind old man tell the kids not
to play/bother older guests. I think as a "siwan kid" after watching
TV that "the hero is the one having a gun in his hand not the one
having ethics as the grandmother used to say :("
I uploaded more photos for written articles in the house of Siwa, you
can download each of them, zoom in and read, the link is
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/345617/index.html
the photos are near the end of the article.
Couple of years ago, the house of Siwa was newly constructed and
operated volunteerly by some people from the town council (magles
elmadina), now there is a trained employee.
Times of visit:
From October to March: 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 2 - 5 p.m.
From April to September: 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 4 - 7 p.m.
The desert: is it the original Siwa?? Hiking in Siwa
I went to Siwa twice, but didn't experience a desert safari yet, I like
to leave something to do in the next visit :)
The basic desert safari in Siwa is going to Bir wahed (well number
one), and to an area called "Sheyata". Bir wahed is about 15 kms to the
south west of Siwa, it was closed for a period of time to control
smuggeling through the egyptian/libian borders, the well was digged
while searching for petrol (please correct me if wrong), now it could
be visited after getting the permissions (the safari organiser handle
them).
someone told me that there was someone living there to operate in for
tourism but he's forbidden from that now (for security reason).
Sheyata is another area to the west with lovely scene at sunset and not
far from the paved road and the inhabited areas. It is the place where
they go for the cheapest safari trip, when you pay more you go deeper
in the desert to more "special" places. I said special because while I
was talking with one of the people who works as a desert driver he said
that each driver keeps to himself some special places.
There is a place to visit know as the petrified village, I was talking
to an arabian person from Matrouh who owns a shop in the main square in
Siwa, he hold me that when he was a kid, he used to travel with his
family (nomads) until they reach Mauritania, and that his grandfather
was told by his ancestor that current Siwa is not the one they used to
go to!! Could this be real!! and is the petrified village the original
Siwa!! I don't know.
One more interesting thing he told about some food his grandfather used
to prepare and eat for such long distance moves (as much as I remember
it is called "telbina" and is made basically from the camel's milk and
barley/she3eer).
There is Siwa protectorate in the west, I heard that there are 4-6 ibex
there, sounds good news :)
Hiking in Siwa: is there any desert hiking in Siwa, I think no, but the
project manager of the italian development project in Siwa (called
Shali project) said to some familiar with the desert "go find me
routes suitable for hiking in the desert, in the area of Sheyata for
exapmle". There was a suggestion for hiking to bir wahed, but it will
be a long distance in one day (going and returning) and there is no
shade on the way. So what do you think about that?
There are three uninhabited oasis around Siwa (on the way from Siwa to
Bahareya, their names are el-bahrain, el-3arag & nawameesa.
There is also the oasis of Qaret omm el-shagheir, about 130 kms to the
northeast of Siwa and need special permission to be visited, but this
is another story:). There is a complete article about it in Al-ahram
newspaper, search their website for it, as much as I remember it was
dated 26 September 2006.
The celebration
Konwn as "3eed el-sol7" (peace making celebrtion), the celebtration
is help at Gebel El-Dakroury over 3 days of the full moon (or around)
in October, after the harvest season of dates and olives.
I asked an OLD siwan man about it and why do they celebrate. As his
mother tongue is the siwan language I felt he was replying me and
hardly trying to say the story in the foreign language (arabic), he
was doing some effort to say the right words he wanted to say, and
here is the story as he said:
Many years ago, there was huge troubles (between eastern & western
siwans as I know), and there was a good man was trying to solve the
problems and it took him three days to make peace among all the
siwans.
And to celebrate the peace making they searched for a place to gather
them all to eat and celebrate together (eating together is a sign of
peace), and this place was at Gebel El-Dakroury.
He told me also how it is prepared nowadays, people start to collect
the food (ro2a2/kind of bread) through 17-18 mosques in the town,
then food is collected at Gebel El-Dakroury, THE MEANING is that the
person eats from the food and it is not known who is the person who
offered the food that was eaten/finished (looks like if someone's
food is eaten/finished this means something good).
The kids were wearing nice colourful clothing, some games like those
in normal "Mulid" were there. vendors come even from Matrouh for
making some profit.
This celebration as much as I understood from that old man and from
Dr. Ahmed Fakhrey's book is a pure siwan event, but to my surprise
one of people there who seems to be a leader, and that journalist
started to ask him about the evnt and its details is from Libya.
Personally, I believe she (the journalist) was getting the wrong info
from the worng person, and this is what he said:
His name is sheikh/ahmed beshir el-madani, the sheikh of the madaneya
shazeleya tarika (way), he's the decender of the founder of the
tarika sheikh elmadany (sheikh/ Mohammed Hasan Hamza Ghafer
Elmadani). He stated that this is a religeous event (not a local
event, "we are here and we're from Libya") and called "3eed elseya7a"
(tourism celebration) but seyaha/tourism here giving the meaning of a
spiritual religeous thing (related to walking very long distances
that may reach hundreds of kms). They say some religeous songs one of
them is a poem telling the story of his great grandfather (sheikh
elmadany).
While he was telling this to the journalist I interrupted him twice
to say a hint because what he says contraditcs with what I read
before, after the second time he commented on what I said by
saying "you know a lot", I was sure now that what I know is the
right, and left the journalist happy enough feeling that
she's "controling the situation" adn that she'll be back with
an "interesting" article.
Questions aroused to my mind, who are they trying to change the siwan
identity? Anyway, it is the siwan problem not mine, I enjoyed the
celebration.
A lot more to be know about the celebration in the books of history,
and on attend the event, enjoy the photos of the celebration on the
following link
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/345676/index.html
When to go, where to eat, more photos, and more
When to go:
All year around if you don't car about weather :)
April, May, October and November if you consider good weather.
October if you want to attend the celebration. Summer (June, July,
August) if you're going for curing by burying in the sand. And Summer
till September if you want to drink "lagby" or try tasting "robb".
"Lagby" is a drink from palm trees, they cut (pass the "knife") on
special parts in the palm tree at night and leave it to "sweat" over
night, and the liquid is collected in a pot or something like. It
should be drunk before sunrise, otherwise it is fermented/turns to
alcoholic drink. I'm not sure if it is bottled in some way to be sold
and drank any time of the day.
"Robb" is the "date's honey". It is like making a juice from dates,
so sugary, looks like and near in taste to molasses.
Where to eat:
The most famous is Abdou restaurant in the main square, there is also
east-west restaurant between the main square and the big mosque.
Also you can try restaurants at hotels like the one on the roof of
Kelani hotel at the main square with a charming view on Shali, you
can arrange for having a "special meal" at dream lodge, or the
restaurant at kenoz shali lodge hotel.
More photos and more about Siwa:
The link to the photos
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/345637/index.html
and article with the photos
http://www.worldisround.com/articles/345637/text.html
And more:
The west: The most west inhabited part in Siwa is called "el-maraki",
and it produces the best olive oil in Siwa. There are some old
temples in the west (but I didn't visit), while heading to the west,
there are some old tombs (holes in rocky mountains/hills) which could
be roman tombs.
The east: There are two inhabited villages "Abo shrouf"
and "Zaitouna" and some fresh water springs for swimming, and a huge
salty lake.
There are several salty lakes in Siwa, they were created from the
agriculture sewage water, I was told that people can swim in them but
at not at mid-day but rather at sunset or early morning.
"Abo el-leif" spring: I passed by it on my way back from Fatanas
island to Shali, I asked the youth swimming there and they couldn't
know its name, simply because they're from Asyut!! and working on the
microbuses (that goes to east, west or matrouh).
Some expressions and interesting things:
"mastah/masta7" is an area of the land for drying dates in the sun
(check the photos).
"etzanna" is a natural buoy (3awwama), for kids to learn swimming. It
is made of dried gourd (ar3 3asal/kind of pumpkin).
Anyone passing by a garden (3aber sabeel) can eat as much as he can,
but don't take a single date with you. Very helpful when touring the
oasis on a bicycle :)
They use special to trade dates, olives and other goods. This system
was used in the Nile valley not long time ago. The "margoona" is a
big basket with fixed size (check the photos of the house of Siwa),
one "margoona" equals five "sa'a/sa3", one "sa3" of delicious dates
is about 2.25 kgs.
The "zarb", an expression used also in Nile valley, it is the fence
made of palm leaves.
The "marbo'a/marbo3a" is the guests' room also used by Matrouh arabs.
The "moryah/morya7" is the "7oosh"/unbuilt area infront of the house
but inside its fence.
The "tshannet" is the head wear/cover of the tribe's sheikh (check
photos of the siwan house for more details).
There are several kinds of dates, the "se'idi/se3edy" is the most
spread, the "azzazi/3azzazi" is not so good and usually is given to
the donkeys to eat it because it is not delicious, but when you're
touring Siwa on a bicycle and eat from any palm tree you'll not
notice :). There is a story about some special 20 palm trees in Siwa
that produce a dates kind named the "ghazali", the history/age of
those trees are not known and if they try to plant another palm from
what they produce the planted palm is a normal kind, it is said that
this kind increases highly the man's ability. The dates' collector
goes up the palm tree and drops the dates, before he's back on the
groud the "ghazali" dates are vanished by their owner to be given as
gifts or to be sold for people he knows. But still all these are just
stories I heard and not sure to what extent it is right.
TO DO:
The following needs to be written and added here by the Community (this is allowed by the nature of 'collaborative' articles):
The people and the history.
To what ethnic group do the siwans belong? are they Amazigh?
Who are the "zaggala"?
Why Alexander the great took the long trip to Siwa?
What are the trading routes used to connect the oasis with the world?
What are the "ethics" of battles between eastern & western siwans?
What are their famous stories?
Was Mohammed Ali the first invador to Siwa, twice?
From where do they get the siwan lady's famous dress? is it related
to their origins?
If you're interested to know more about Siwa, please read Dr. Ahmed
Fakhrey's book about Siwa. It is just a good start:)
Wish to see you all at the book discussion about Siwa
http://www.saharasafaris.org/bookdiscussion-sunset-oasis-bahaa-taher