Siwa
Siwa is an oasis lying to the West of the Nile Valley. Siwa has 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 visited in Egypt upon conquering it.
Using private car is an easy and enjoyable way. In the 70s, there were gazelles and Ibex jumping around the road from Matrouh to Siwa but no more.
Transportation in Siwa:
1- By bicycle: 2 LE/hour or 10 LE/day. You can rent a bike 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- By truck:
Budget Hotels:
1- Cleopatra Hotel: Located 5 minutes walk away from the main square of Shali, with good location- Has 3 levels of accommodation:
2- Kelany Hotel: Located in the main square, the hotel has a restaurant on the roof with good view of Shali and prepares normal and local food and is reasonably priced.
4- Palm Trees Hotel: Located two blocks away from the main square, 15-25L.E. for bed with external bath (single-double), 35-45 LE for double- triple with a bath, 50 LE for Siwan chalet in the garden of the hotel.
5- Youssef Hotel: Located in the main square 10-16 LE for single-double with external bath, 15-25 LE single-double with internal bath. (not advisable).
The following hotels most have a natural water pool and some have 3 stars rating, prices are around 150 - 300 LE:
1- Kenoz Shali Lodge: Located few minutes’ walk from the main square- Built in Siwan style- Their Restaurant has a very good chief- Prices are moderate (try Romanneya, and vegetable kouskous)
2- Siwa Safari Paradise: 3 stars- Has a natural water pool- 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 LE for single-double room, 110-160 LE 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 facilities
6- Penta: Relatively new, it is between the gardens in the eastern side of Siwa. I'm not sure whether 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 LE
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 journey after the signs for the hotel, you pass a long distance (by bicycle/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 (#1) 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 LE 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 single, double or triple room respectively. Contact 046-460-1745, 010-762-5862 or 010-099-9255. 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 own 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 LE! 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 Eco-lodge: (you need to get a permission from "Kenouz lodge" to visit the place, as the two places have the same management)
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 Eco-lodge is built using the Siwan material in building, in a normal room price may be $250 - 350 per 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 eco-lodges increased the prices of building material, for example a palm stem which used to cost 1 LE is now for 6 LE. 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 eco-lodge is known 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-Dakrur (Takrur) and I guess it was targeting the guests of burying in sand, it is the first photo in the previous link :):)
Shali was built in 1203 to protect the Siwa from attacks by the desert Bedouins. 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 "Bab Inshal" (as much as I remember it mean the main gate), it was divided between eastern 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 extensions.
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 "Bab Inshal" also made by the same owner of Adrar Amellal.
The Oracle Temple is located on a huge rock called "Aghurmi" about 3 kms to the east of the main square, Aghurmi 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 Aghurmi 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.
Gebel El-Dakrur (Takrur 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 an annual celebration takes place; the celebration lasts for three days during the full moon in October after the dates and olives harvest season.
There is more than one opinion about how the mountain gained its name, the one I remember is that the area was 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. Several drawings and 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 in front of the mountain.
The big mosque is just off the main square on the way to Gebel el- Mawta, it was built by King Fouad, and there is a shrine beside it.
Fatnas Island: Fatnas is 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
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 storytelling, 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 at each other, Personally I was shot twice before the kind old man tell the kids not to play or 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 voluntarily 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 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 smuggling through the Egyptian-Libyan borders, the well was dug in search for oil (please correct me if wrong), now it could be visited after getting the permissions (the safari organizer 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? 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 example". 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.
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 peacemaking 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-Dakrur.
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-Dakrur. 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 colorful 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 event and its details is from Libya. Personally, I believe she (the journalist) was getting the wrong info from the wrong 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 descendant of the founder of the tarika Sheikh El-Madany (sheikh/ Mohammed Hasan Hamza Ghafer El-Madani). He stated that this is a religious 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 religious thing (related to walking very long distances that may reach hundreds of kms). They say some religious songs one of them is a poem telling the story of his great grandfather (sheikh El-Madany). While he was telling this to the journalist I interrupted him twice to say a hint because what he says contradicts 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 "controlling the situation" and that she'll be back with an "interesting" article.
Questions arouse 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
"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 and 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-Maraqi", 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 "Zeitouna" 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 Fatnas 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 Aiwan 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 ground 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.
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 invader of 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, you can read
