You put your Bedouin the desert?

What can you do the day after seeing the frickin Great pyramids? Relax. We began the next day bright and early with a five hour bus ride out to Bahariah which is southwest of Cario. Following that bus ride, we took a quick jaunt over to the Badr (spelling is correct, fyi) Bedouin ranch type place and then begain our tour of the Black Dessert as well as the Old White Desert and New White Desert.

They drove us in the back of an old Land Cruiser that instead of having seats, had two benches in the back going the length of the vehicle. It was me, Sam, Pavel a French couple (Owen and Marie) and two Bedouin guides (one was named Mohammad and i forget the other one's). They first showed us the Black Desert which has much black sand because of ancient volcanic rocks. It was very cool looking although by far the most noticeable attribute of the desert was the intense quiet of everything. It was nice to finally be able to breath well again after the dusty, smoky and polluted air that plagues Cairo. Another noticeable difference was the temperature. The sun was very strong and hot, yet it felt quite comfortable because it was so dry and there was always a refreshing breeze. Serenity Now.

The black desert and our Vehicular travel vessel lunch

Then after a quick lunch at a rest stop, where I acquired head protection, we continued on to the White Desert. Most of my description will have to be pictorial but I must add that it was so beautiful. We drove around for approximately four hours in the back of that Land Cruiser stopping at strategic points to enjoy the views. What an amazing place. We heard the White Desert looks like something out of Dr Suess, and the description is quite accurate. There were patches of white sand that looked like snow as well as rock formations that could be likened to clouds in that they all seemed to look like sculptures of a face, a chicken, a camel etc. The white sand was also powder soft, almost as if it were in fact made of powder or flour.

so white
b-e-a-utifulMushroom rock formation with Pavel playing Where's Waldo

Chicken and Egg at Sunset

We set up camp after sunset and the Bedouins prepared dinner over a fire. It was so quiet and peaceful. We had a great night just eating and hanging out talking with the guides as well as our new French friends. The most incredible thing was the full moon. We could see a good amount of stars, but the sky was so incredibly bright because of that crazy ol' full moon. The moon was so bright that everything cast shadows and we could see miles in the distance at all times of night. There was no tent, merely a wall of fabric hung up next to the 'Cruiser so we slept under the beautiful desert sky. What a cool night. We awoke the next morning as the sun was breaking the horizon and our guides prepared us breakfast and tea before heading back to town.

Hanging out around the campfireAnd this is where we slept as you see Pavel arising from his slumber.

Travel that day included the three hour drive back to Bahariah and then a five hour bus ride back to Cairo. We then had enough time to shower and relax for a little at the Wakeup Cairo Hostel we had been staying at and before they took us to the train station. From there we took a 10 hour overnight train from Cairo to Luxor.

Oh the life of our traveling pants. Ya YA