Desert Tour Itinerary

Day 1	We will set off from Hotel Sheherazade early morning in an air-conditioned minibus to make our way through the Western Desert to arrive at Kharga Oasis at lunchtime. Kharga used to be the last but one stop on the 40 Days Road. Here we will visit the following places at some point on the outward and return journeys:- The Necropolis of Bagawat – is one of the earliest Christian cemeteries in the world and was used from the 3rd to 7th centuries AD. It has 263 mud-built chapels decorated with Coptic murals, including one of pharaonic troops pursuing the Jews led by Moses out of Egypt. Hibis Temple – one of the few Persian monuments in Egypt, it was built by Darius I in the 6th century BC. It has several reliefs on the outer walls showing Darius greeting Egyptian gods. Kharga Museum – Houses a collection of Pharaonic, Roman and Islamic antiquities of great quality found in the New Valley. Dush Temple – because Kharga was such an important place on the trade route , the Romans built several fortresses round the oasis to protect the camel trans. Dush was one of these places. The temple was dedicated to Isis and Serapis, and was built during the time of Domitian and Trajan in the 1st century AD, but was built on a site earlier occupied during the Ptolemaic period. Late in the afternoon of the first day we will travel on to Dakhla Oasis. Dakhla is the furthest oasis away from Cairo and is considered to be the most beautiful. We will spend the night here at the Bedouin Camp and will enjoy typical Bedouin entertainment after dinner with live music and dancing.
Bagawat Tombs
Hibis Temple
Kharga Museum
Day 2 The White Desert	We will change our minibus for 4x4 vehicles and travel towards the White Desert or Sahara El Bayda , a journey of 340kms, stopping for a picnic lunch at Ayn Al Serou along the way, with its thermal spring and cache of Roman mummies. The White Desert is truly white, in clear contrast to the yellow desert elsewhere, as white chalk covers everything. The present floor was once a sea-bed, and fossil shells still remain. Wind and sand erosion have caused fantastic and wonderful shapes to be formed out of the limestone – as well as the inselbergs, mushroom shaped monoliths you can see domes, minarets, human faces, all kinds of animals in these rock sculptures. At sunset we will watch this white lunar landscape change through varying shades of pink and orange. After watching the sunset we will eat dinner round the campfire , under spectacular starry night skies.
Day 3 Camels	After breakfast and exploring more of the White Desert we will start making our way back past Agabat Mt and through Wadi El Batik (Watermelon Valley) and then through Farafra Oasis to Bir al Minqan, where we will meet up with our camel train. After lunch at Bir Al Minqar we will exchange our 4x4s for our 6 hr camel ride to the Great Sand Sea, a vast area of constantly moving sand dunes, where we will make camp for the night. Those not wishing to make the camel ride can go on ahead in the jeeps.
Day 4 Bedouin Camp	After breakfast back to the 4x4's and retrun to the Bedouin Camp to refresh ourselves before visiting the medieval Islamic village of El Qasr, with its narrow covered streets. After lunch the afternoon will be spent relaxing at the Magic Spring, before spending the night once again at the Bedouin Camp.
Day 5 Luxor Temple	Return to Luxor, with sightseeing at Kharga Oasis again on the way. 3 nights can be spent at Hotel Sheherazade in any order ie: 1 night before the Nile Cruise and 2 nights after, or vice versa. During this time sightseeing visits will be arranged to the West Bank sites, Karnak Temple, and fellucca sailing on the Nile.