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Desert safari 3 days – 2 nights
Day 1: Departure from Luxor after breakfast
The drive from Luxor to the camp site in the oasis of Kharga
takes 4 hours and you will go straight through the vast
desert expanding beyond the river banks of the Nile.
Lunch in the camp.
Camel Ride to the Site of Kysis (Dush)
As the camp is located close to the site of Kysis you will
go to the sites by camel, introducing you to the way ancient
Egyptians used to travel.
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Kysis was built in the 1st century BC, and dedicated
to the gods Isis and Serapis. It has since 1967 been
beautifully restored, and it also has a great location. It
overlooks the eastern valley below former Kysis. There are
two hypostyle halls, both with entrances in near perfect
condition. Most columns have been knocked down, but large
pieces lie around. Note that the eastern side seems to have
been without a wall, allowing the fertile lands below to
have been visible during ceremonies. |
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You will go back by car for dinner.
After dinner, you can enjoy the relaxing and peaceful
atmosphere of the Camp. Enjoy a typical cup of tea, smoke a
water pipe and marvel at the beauty of the stars and the
quietness of the desert.
Day 2: Kharga - Dakhla
Have a big breakfast as you have a full day ahead.
Qasr el-Labeka, Bagawat, the Hibis Temple, Rock Art &
the Dakhla
Oasis
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Qasr el – Labeka Qasr El – Labeka was built by the
Romans on the old caravan routes (the forty days road), and
in its heyday the surrounding area was green and with water.
Water was carried by an aqueduct that still stands, but
which is silted up. The outer walls are 12 meters high and
quite imposing. The site is an attraction as well as a harsh
place.
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Bagawat is the earliest and best preserved Christian
Cemeteries in the world and a reminder of one of the most
central battles of early Christianity. In the 5th century, Bishop Nestorius was
exiled to Bagawat for this dispute. The large extent of the
Necropolis of Bagawat is the result of this and his
supporters' exile.
There are 263 mud-brick chapels climbing up a ridge, the
oldest dating back two centuries before Nestorius, the last
dating back to the 7th century. |
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The Hibis Temple named after the town that once existed
here. It is by far the largest and finest of the temples of
Egypt's 200 years under Persian rulers. It was King Darius
(6th century C) who ordered to build it, and dedicated it to
Amon. The temple was adorned by rulers over the following
centuries, but the original style was always respected.
Today it is not available for closer inspection, as the main
structure is swathed in scaffolding. |
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After the lunch in the shadow of the palm trees, we
will continue towards the Dakhla Oasis.
Before Teneida village, we make a stop
Rock Inscriptions
At this point the old desert tracks cross, Darb al Ghubari (Kharga-Dakhla)
and an old forgotten track from Teneida to Baris, and the
caravans stopped here. Here are prehistoric inscriptions and
graffiti from earlier explorers of the desert and Jarvis,
once British governor for Kharga and Dakhla, an avid
explorer of the desert.
Magic Spring
We make a visit to one of the hot springs of the desert and
maybe take a bath there.
Then we continue to the camp by El-Dohous village and have
dinner.
Day 3: Dakhla - Luxor
Breakfast in camp
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Al-Qasr, the Deir el-Hagar Temple, the Muzawaka graves & Qasr
el-Zayan
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Al Qasr
is a typically town of the desert build upon Roman
foundations, that maybe the longest continually inhabited in
the oasis. The town was earlier the capital of the Dakhla
oasis. Today the town is abandoned and preserves in its
style. Remarkable is the Beid Omda house build upon a
Ptolemaic temple and incorporates pharaonic door posts.
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The
Deir el-Hagar Temple
Edmondstone, the first European since ancient times, came to
the oasis, discovered it in 1819 partly filled by sand. The
following European travellers named the only mountain of
Dakhla, Gebel Edmondstone, after him. The temple is build by
the Romans in the 1. century and dedicated to the Theban
Triade and Seth (God of the desert). Later on it was a
Coptic monastery.
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The Muzawaka Tombs
Drovetti named them in 1919, muzawaka means decorated in
Arabic. Around 300 tombs are recorded from 1. and 2.century.
One tomb contains 7 mumies. The area is a part of the
cemetery of Amheida, centre of the western Dakhla from 1.
Century BC to 4. Century AD.
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Lunch
The
Qasr el-Zayan Temple was built in the Ptolemaic period
and was later restored during the Roman emperor Antonius and
dedicated to the god Amenebis, a local god. The city around
the temple is known in the ancient scriptures as
Tchnonemyris that existed for several centuries.
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| Back to Luxor |
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| Included in the
trip: |
2 breakfasts
3 lunches
2 dinners
Water during the trip
All entry fees |
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Desert safari 2 days
1 night
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Desert safari 5 days 4 nights |
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