Egypt’s Bahariya Oasis is a popular tourist destination.

Bahariya has the feeling of being Egypt’s first true desert oasis.
You can get there after a four- or five-hour drive from Cairo over a well-maintained route that sees a small amount of tanker activity but otherwise minimal traffic.

There is just one rest station along the way, which is a barn-like tea house after 150 kilometers (and a smaller one approximately 10 kilometers farther on).

This is where French Flier Antoine de Saint Exupery crashed in 1935, heading towards Wadi Natrun, on the right hand side of the road on the way to the airport.

In the desert, with just a half pint of coffee and an orange for sustenance, Exupery managed to survive—and later wrote about his adventures in the wonderful desert novel “Wind, Sand, and Stars.”

Bahariya has drawn a lot of foreigners over the years who have come in quest of tranquilly and desert independence due to its proximity to the Egyptian capital.

They have founded, or have been engaged with, the many eco-spiritual organizations that are coming up, offering safaris that are suited to the increasing breed of travelers who want to do more than just stand about and marvel at the scenery.

Bawati is the major town you pass through when driving through Bahariya. Within the oasis’s depression, there are many tiny settlements, several of which were documented in the Roman era, that are worth seeing.

There have been people living in Bahariya for hundreds of years, and it was here that the so-called Golden Mummies were discovered a few years ago.

Some of the mummy cases may be viewed at the museum in Bawiti, which you’ll pass on your way into the park.

There are stores offering almost anything, including Bedouin scarves and carpets, which you may purchase here.

On the hunt for the old-fashioned stores and establishments such as the bakery, which is a little blackened hole in the wall through which hands pass to acquire their daily bread.

Gebel Dest is located in the hills behind the town, and it was here that major dinosaur bones were discovered by German paleontology Eric Strommer over a century ago.

He found a tyrannosaurus-like carnivore named Spinosaurus, which, if you’ve watched the film “Jurassic Park III,” you’ll recognise as the creature that battles with T-Rex towards the conclusion of the movie.

There are old sites all across Bawiti that are just begging to be explored.

The oasis is well-equipped with hot springs that flow from the soil and wash you of the sand from your desert travels after you’ve had enough sightseeing.

Alexander’s Temple is a historic structure in Alexandria, Egypt.

This monument, which is the only one of its kind remaining standing in Egypt, may be found on the route leading from Bahariya to Siwa, suggesting that Alexander may have returned via Bahariya after seeing the oracle at Siwa.

One travels through the Black Desert after passing through the dusty and atmospheric village of Bawiti.

The Black Desert is so named because the air has oxidized the manganese in the rocks, turning them black.