Middle East - Anthony Ham [146]
Eating
There are cheap chicken-and-salad joints on the central market square. No alcohol is served in Siwan restaurants.
Nour al-Waha ( 460 0293; Sharia Subukha; mains E£5-20) A popular hangout in a palm grove opposite Shali Lodge, Nour al-Waha has shady tables and plenty of games on hand for those who just want to while away the day in the shade. The food is a mixture of Egyptian and Western, and while it couldn’t be called gourmet, it is generally fresh and good.
Abdu ’ s Restaurant ( 460 1243; central market sq; mains E£5-25; 8.30am-midnight) Before internet and mobile phones, there were places like Abdu’s – a village hub where people gathered nightly to meet, catch up and swap stories. This is the longest-running restaurant in town and remains the best eating option around, with a huge menu of breakfast, pasta, traditional dishes, vegetable stews, couscous, roasted chickens and fantastic pizza.
Tanta Waa Coffeeshop & Restaurant ( 010 472 9539; meals E£7-25; 8am-late) This super-chilled and creatively clad mud-brick café, located at Cleopatra spring, is the perfect spot for a cool drink or scrumptious meal between splashes in the spring. The food here is surprisingly delicious, with a small selection of salads, pastas, meat dishes and fruit juices/smoothies. Trust us when we say their lasagne alone is worth the trip out here (E£12). Slung with hammocks and with a background of funky tunes, it’s easy to laze away an entire day at this haven.
Al Babinshal ( 460 1499; meals E£8-35) On the roof of the hotel by the same name, this might just be the most romantic dining spot in the oases. Moodily lit in the evenings, it’s attached to the Fortress of Shali and has sweeping views over all of Siwa. Alas the food, while good, does not always live up to the promise of its ultra-chic ambience.
There are several places dotted around the square where you can have a sheesha or a cup of coffee and play some backgammon.
Getting There & Around
Buses depart from the bus stop opposite the Tourist Police station, where it is recommended to buy your tickets in advance. There are three daily buses to Alexandria (E£27 to E£30, eight hours), stopping at Marsa Matruh (E£12, four hours) leaving at 7am, 10am and 10pm. There’s an extra Alexandria bus leaving at 3pm in the winter and 5pm in the summer, and a service to Marsa Matruh only departs at 1pm. Most recently, a once-weekly direct service to Cairo has started running, departing Thursdays at 8pm (E£50, 10 to 11 hours).
Service taxis and microbuses to Marsa Matruh (E£12) leave from the area in front of Abdu’s Restaurant. These tend to leave in the early morning or after sunset.
A battered desert road links Siwa to Bahariya Oasis, passing through some awesome desert landscapes. Enterprising Siwan drivers are willing to make the 10-hour trip in a 4WD for round E£800 to E£1500 per car, though a permit is required (US$5 per person, organised through the tourist office).
Bicycles are by far the best way to get around town and can be rented from most hotels and a number of bike shops. The going rate is E£10 per day.
Donkey carts, or caretas, are a much-used mode of transport for Siwans and can be a more amusing, if slower, way to get around. After some haggling, expect to pay about E£25 for two to three hours, E£5 for a short trip.
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SUEZ CANAL
An engineering marvel by any measure, the 1869-built canal that severs Africa from Asia is darned impressive. Though the region is hardly geared for tourists, intrepid travellers are rewarded not only with a few picturesque colonial-built cities but also the unforgettable sight of behemoth supertankers virtually gliding through the deserts that make up the Isthmus of Suez.
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PORT SAID
066 / pop 550,000
At the mouth of the Suez Canal’s Mediterranean entrance, wealthy Port Said tips its hat to a prosperous past. Abuzz with the energy of a lively port city, its grand but faded New Orleans–style wooden buildings still manage to cling to some colonial