Wednesday 31 July 2013

Oases of the Great Sand Sea

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The Great Sand Sea is an uninhabitable belt of shifting golden dune ridges up to 100 m (330ft) high, a natural impassable barrier between Egypt and Lybia up to 300 km (200 mi) wide and extending for some 600 km (375 mi) north to south. 
 
Human habitation is only possible in the five remote oases at its edge, where mineral springs and waterholes enable life. On this 1000 km (600 mi) road adventure, you will experience the magical stillness of elemental landscapes and wonder at the resilience of communities who have managed to preserve their culture, continuosly since antiquity, in the face of such overwhelmingly hostile odds.
 
 
Siwa, Egypt's westernmost oasis is the site of the ancient Oracle of Amun, consulted by Alexander the Great. It is an 80 km (50mi) swathe of date palms, olive trees and salt lakes inhabited by Berbers. 
 
The 400 km (250 mi) road along the ancient caravan route to Bahariya, you cross the surreal White Desert with dramatic rock formations like giant mushrooms, to reach Farafra, one of the most isolated places in Egypt.

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