The Western Desert in Egypt – our 5-day adventure

The Western Desert in Egypt is a vast expanse of seemingly endless sand. But don’t be fooled – it is anything but monotonous. The oasis towns of the Egyptian Western Desert have a long history and played a crucial role in Egypt’s cultural and economic life. Today, modern highways connect the Western Desert’s major oases – Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Al-Kharga – to Cairo and Luxor. On our recent research trip to Egypt, we took the road less travelled. Starting in Luxor and ending in Cairo, we discovered the charm of the Western Desert Oasis towns and landscapes.

This trip reminded us of other deserts we visited, like Wadi Rum in Jordan or our trip to Wadi al Hitan, also in Egypt.

Over the course of five days, we explored everything from pharaonic temples to sleepy towns, and to bizarre limestone sculptures in the famous White Desert. In this blog post, we share all the details of our five-day journey through the Western Desert. And we have some key tips on how you can make this itinerary even better!

Day 1: From Luxor to Al-Kharga Oasis

Leaving Luxor: The Road into the Desert

With no public transport running along the Luxor – Al-Kharga Road we have arranged for a driver to take us into the Western Desert in Egypt. On leaving the city boundaries of Luxor, we need a permit to go on. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of traffic on the road because the road also leads south to Edfu and Aswan. But once we turn off from the highway running parallel to the Nile valley, the landscape transforms. Another road branches off towards the town of Sohag.

From then on, we are alone on the desert road, crossing a vast empty plateau. The landscape changes from rugged red mountains to a flat dirt plateau, and finally back to the rim of a large valley. Occasionally we spot abandoned Soviet-style bus stops, concrete structures with a simple roof to shade the people waiting for the bus. But today there are no buses, and no people waiting for them.

Visiting Al-Ghuweita in the oasis of Al-Kharga

When we near the green oasis area of Al-Kharga, we pass a checkpoint and receive a police escort. From this point on, it’s slow driving trailing behind the police car. We had agreed to visit two ancient temples along the way, but things do not go as planned. When we pass the turn-off to Al-Zaiyan, the police car continues straight towards town. Our driver, busy on the phone, is ignoring us. At the next checkpoint – one of many – we protest directly to the police. After some discussion, they finally allow us to visit Al-Ghuweita.

The late-pharaonic temple of Al-Ghuweita, dating back to the Persian period – about the 5^th century BC – sits spectacularly atop a hill overlooking the oasis. Later the Romans transformed the site into a fortress. Inside the temple we admire Theban gods in the stone cella, and Ptolemaian additions at the gates. Surrounding the temple are remnants of small mudbrick houses and an outer wall, once part of a Roman settlement. Archaeologists have even discovered much older artefacts, proving that the hill had served as a caravan stop for the desert trade as early as the Middle Kingdom.

Afterwards, there is no time – or possibly no clearance – to go back to the temple of Al-Zaiyan. Instead, we head straight to the town of Al-Kharga and check into the somewhat run-down and overpriced hotel Mohandis in the town centre.

Exploring El-Bagawat Necropolis and Hibis Temple in El-Kharga

The police escort does not end at the hotel. When we decide to take a taxi to some sites just outside of town, we are again surrounded by policemen. Some taxi drivers decline to take us, seemingly wary of the attention. But eventually we find one willing to drive us to the El-Bagawat Necropolis on the northern edge of town.
The El-Bagawat Necropolis is a sprawling site with around 250 tombs and mausoleums. The tombs dating from the 2^nd to 7^th century AD are dotting the desert landscape. They belong to the early Christians who lived in the Western Desert of Egypt. Some tombs retain beautiful frescoes in their mud-brick cupolas, such as the Ark of Noah.

Next, we visit the nearby Hibis Temple, one of the best-preserved pharaonic temples from the Late Period under Persian rule. Inside the temple, the very detailed painted reliefs in the cella are particularly impressive and we spend some time admiring them.

By now it is late afternoon, and we decide to walk back into town. Our police escort – still present – does not approve of our independent stroll. They insist that we walk on the same side of the road as the moving traffic, while they drive directly behind us. They follow us into small restaurants and meddle in our dinner decisions. And after dinner they accompany us back to the hotel.

And we realize that our trip to the Western Desert comes with an added layer of security that will shape our journey in this part of Egypt.

Day 2: From Al-Kharga Oasis to Farafra Oasis

As the only tourists in town, we are asked to join a photo event with the new chief of tourist police. Escorted to the entrance of the Hibis Temple once again, we are handed a cheap plastic flower and pose for a photo with the police chief. At least they drop us at the minibus station afterwards, and we are lucky to get the last seats on a minibus to Dakhla Oasis.

As soon as the driver puts on his Quranic sures, we drift into well-practiced bus slumber. We suspect that the religious chanting is not an expression of the driver’s devotion. The Quran sures apparently serve as a magical charm to protect us from the evil spirits of the desert. And the driver turns the chanting off the moment we reach the first houses of Dakhla Oasis.

In Dakhla, we’re the last ones on the bus, and eventually the driver drops us at the nearly deserted minibus station for Farafra.

A plump elderly man introduces himself as Abdullah. He hoists our backpacks on his – as yet empty – bus and directs us to his favourite coffee shop to wait. “We only need five more people”, he assures us jovially. Languidly we get into the oasis mood. Time is not important here. And while we sip Turkish coffee on the pavement Abdullah lays everything out with full transparency: Six seats booked, plus the three of us, and one more announced; 14 seats in total. If we all agree to pay 170 LE instead of 120 LE, we can leave now. Everyone agrees.

We collect the other passengers from the oasis outskirts and head onto the road connecting the Western Desert oases. By nightfall, we finally arrive in Farafra Oasis, and we have dinner at the hotel.

Day 3: From Farafra into the White Desert

Sandboarding and dune bashing

The next day begins with a drive straight onto the sand dunes near Farafra. Below us, circular irrigation fields mark the human effort to tame the desert, but beyond them, the desert stretches far into the distance. The tour includes sandboarding and steep sand dune driving, but we are not drawn to either. But of course, that’s a standard part of the desert experience.

Limestone Sculptures and Fossil Treasures

After a lunch break at a rare spring with a few palm trees, we head deeper into the White desert. Strange limestone formations rise from the plain, shaped over millennia by wind and water. Some resemble steles, others look like giant mushrooms – all eroded from the sediments of an ancient seabed.

In one area, tiny black stones litter the white desert floor and cling to the white limestone sculptures. These black particles – hematites – sound very metallic when we examine them. And we also find numerous small ammonites among them.

The White House of the Desert

Our tour now takes us into a surreal landscape of smooth, rounded white hills. Walid, our driver, calls this the “White House” of the desert. The undulating hills as well as some erosion sculptures are coated with a thick layer of shiny white chalk. Reflecting the sun, it stays cool to the touch despite the burning Egyptian sun. And simple scratching with a fingernail reveals the darker desert floor beneath – a reminder of the layers of time beneath our feet.

Camping Under the Stars in the Western Desert in Egypt

As we drive towards the designated camping area, we pass more of the famous white rock formations, eroded into sometimes peculiar shapes. Some have names like “Mushroom and Chicken” or “The Rabbit” – but we prefer to let our imagination roam. Most of these strangely shaped rocks evoke some image when we look at them – a head, a dog, an opera singer frozen mid-song, or a skull.

By evening, we reach the authorized camping area, where all overnight tours must stop. We find ourselves a certain distance apart from the other groups, behind a small knoll. Perhaps we arrived too late for the best and most sheltered spots, but with no wind that night, it doesn’t matter. As darkness falls, we gather around a small campfire for dinner.  With nothing but the White Desert around us, we retreat early to our tents, ready for another day of discovery.

Day 4: Through the White and Black Desert to Bahariya Oasis

More mushroom rocks

After a night under the spectacular desert sky and a simple Egyptian breakfast, we set off for another part of the White Desert. The early morning air is crisp, and the sun casts a golden glow over the endless sands. In the morning light, the limestone formations look beautiful. We stop several times to wander among the rocks and to invent fairy tales about the wondrous creatures set in stone, surrounding us everywhere. Eventually, we reach an area with numerous striking mushroom-like white rocks. Slender limestone pillars support larger rock tops, resembling umbrellas or mushrooms. Standing beneath them, we suppress a slight feeling of queasiness … there’s a staggering amount of heavy rock balanced above us.

Back to Farafra

The “mushrooms” are quite close to the main highway, and soon we find ourselves back on the road to Farafra. After a much-welcomed shower we visit the Museum of local artist Badr Abdel Moghni before continuing our journey towards Bahariya Oasis.

Crystal Mountain and Black Desert Views

On the way, we make two stops. The first is at Chrystal Mountain, a stretch of rocks embedded with glittering mineral inclusions. At first, we merely take photos, but then we start looking more closely where the minerals have grown out from small sandstone pebbles. In some places, the crystals grow inward from volcanic bubbles, forming magnificent druses that sparkle under the sun.

Our second stop is the Black Desert View. Here are a series of small volcanos dot the Western Desert next to the road. Climbing up one of them, we take in the dramatic scenery and other details. We marvel at the layered sandstone visible in some places. They are very colourful in red and yellow, and we find at least 2 layers of black volcanic ash. How many years ago did these eruptions take place?

As the day winds down, we arrive in Bahariya Oasis, eager to rest. Before settling in, we explore the local shops, stocking up on fresh fruit and yogurt for breakfast – luxuries after our time in the Western Desert.

Day 5: From Bahariya Oasis to Cairo

Most public transport from Bahariya to Cairo leaves at 6 am or earlier. Not keen on such an early rise, we head to the minibus station around 9 am, hoping for a later option. Luck is on our side – by 10 am a minibus departs through the Western Desert towards Cairo. About 4 hours later, we reach the outskirts of the Cairo metropolis. Instead of going to the city centre in Downtown, buses end at the Giza side, avoiding Cairo’s worst traffic congestion. We are dropped at Mounib Square in Giza – conveniently near a metro station, making it easy to continue to our hotel in Giza.

Logistics of exploring the Western Desert in Egypt

The Western Desert in Egypt is dotted by several oases. In the far northwest, the oasis of Siwa is quite isolated and a long trip from Cairo. But most of the oases form a loop from Bahariya Oasis in the north down to Al-Kharga, not far from Luxor. Wanting to visit the oases one after another, we planned our route coming from Luxor, through the desert, and ending in Cairo. This seemed logical – no backtracking and no extra ride to Cairo.

However, in hindsight, this wasn’t the best approach. The southern part of the oases, from Al-Kharga to Farafra, falls under the New Valley Governorate, where strict security measures restrict tourist movements. Police escorts and constant checkpoints made exploring frustrating. Additionally, desert tours from Farafra are pricier, since multiple security forces reportedly require payments before operators can enter the desert – despite it being officially off-limits.

Had we started from Bahariya Oasis, part of the more relaxed Giza Province, these restrictions wouldn’t have applied. For a smoother experience, approaching the Western Desert in Egypt from the north is definitely the better option.

Best way to organize a trip to the Western desert

On the other hand, starting our desert trip in Farafra in the morning allowed us to spend more time in the most beautiful parts of the White Desert. In comparison, the drive from Bahariya takes much longer, and some tours that begin in Cairo spend the greater part of the day on the highway rather than in the desert itself.

As for the desert, the various areas of the White Desert were clearly the highlight for us. Both the so-called Black Desert and Chrystal Mountain, while interesting, felt more like brief roadside stops to break up the long drive from Bahariya or even Cairo.

Considering all the factors we would recommend starting your tour from Bahariya in order to spend less money and more time in the desert itself. If you are planning to continue to Dakhla and Al-Kharga, be prepared for annoying police escorts. That said, the sightseeing spots in the southern oasis towns are rarely visited and there are some further explorations in the surrounding desert possible, too (with police escort).

Have you been to the Western Desert in Egypt or are you considering a trip there?

NB: We were not sponsored in any way to write this blog post about the Western desert in Egypt. We paid all expenses ourselves.