Middle East - Anthony Ham [145]
Sights & Activities
Apart from date-palm groves, Siwa’s major attractions are its profusion of dazzling, fresh-water springs. The remains of the Temple of Amun, which once housed the famed oracle of Amun, and some Greco-Roman tombs can easily be visited on a day trip. The town centre is marked by the jagged remnants of the medieval mud-brick Fortress of Shali. At the edge of town are the towering dunes of the Great Sand Sea.
For a glimpse into traditional Siwan life, check out the House of Siwa Museum (adult/student E£10/5; 10am-3pm Sun-Thu), housed in a restored traditional mud-brick abode and showcasing Siwan crafts and traditions.
There are innumerable safari companies in Siwa, most of which charge around E£30 for a tour of Siwa town and environs, E£80 to visit the Great Sand Sea and E£300 to E£500 per vehicle for an overnight camping trip into the desert. Note that permits (US$5 per day plus E£11, arranged by your guide) are needed for desert trips. You can hire sand boards (E£10 to E£20) at several places around town.
Several shops around town sell local crafts, such as basketware and jewellery, but the quality is less than stellar. The local dates and olives on sale throughout town are delicious.
Women need to be very careful if wandering alone among the palm groves or bathing in the springs. There have been reports of assaults.
Sleeping
Make sure your hotel room has screened windows; the mosquitoes in Siwa are particularly insatiable.
Yousef Hotel ( 460 0678, 010 952 3957; central market sq; dm E£10, s/d E£15/30; without bathroom E£10/20) With the cheapest beds in town, Yousef is perennially full with backpacking budgeters. The rooms are a bit tattered and kept barely above minimum hygiene standards, but the rooftop has both great views of the oasis and a kitchen for guests to use.
Palm Trees Hotel ( 460 1703; salahali2@yahoo.com; Sharia Torrar; s/d E£35/45, without bathroom E£15/25, bungalows E£50) This deservedly popular budget hotel has sufficiently tidy (though ageing) rooms, all with screened windows, fans and balconies. The shady, tranquil garden with date-palm furniture is delightful (but mosquito filled), and a few ground-level bungalows have porches spilling onto the greenery. Breakfast costs E£5.
Siwa Dream Lodge ( 460 1745, 010 099 9255; www.siwadreamlodge.com; s/d E£120/160; ) Just northeast of Siwa, this quiet and intimate midrange place is one of our faves. The eight neat and spacious chalets here are all unique, some sporting big domed roofs, others with bathrooms inlaid with pebbles, and all are finished with natural materials and traditional Siwan rock-salt and mud brick. Rooms even have TVs and fridges, and are decorated with local craft. There’s a small dipping pool here as well as a fireplace for chilly nights. Lovely.
Shali Lodge ( 460 1299; info@eqi.com.eg; Sharia Subukha; s/d E£260/340; ) This beautiful mud-brick hotel, owned by environmentalist Mounir Neamatallah, lies nestled in a lush palm grove about 300m from the main square. The palms are a feature of the building wherever possible and the seven large, decadently comfortable rooms have lots of curving mud brick goodness and massive exposed brick bathrooms and all lie arranged courtyard style. Tasteful and quiet, this is how small hotels should be. Breakfast not included.
Al-Babinshal ( 460 1499; s/d E£260/340) Literally attached to the Fortress of Shali, this intimate hotel continues the ecolodge footprint left by the owner of Shali Lodge. The cunning architects have seamlessly grafted a mud-brick hotel onto the front of Shali fort. A maze of tunnels and stairways connects the spacious and cool cave-like rooms, making it impossible to tell where the hotel ends and the fort begins. Entirely made from the same materials as the original fort, each intimate abode has wood floor panelling, traditional wooden-shuttered windows and exposed palm-log supports. Some locals, however, are not convinced that this augmentation of their town’s