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Egypt is very much desert, and the number
of oases are smaller than many might imagine. There are
8 oasis communities interesting to a traveler, plus a
handful of places where people do little but work and
long for the day when they can return to their home
town.
Getting to the oases is straightforward these days:
There are good roads and plenty of public transportation
that costs next to nothing compared with Western price
levels.
Egyptian oases correspond fairly with the
Hollywood/Disney-like image of an oasis, where sand
dunes suddenly turn into lush palm groves with a
fresh-water pond in the middle. Some of the oases have
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borders, where the gardens and
settlements in the outskirts are poor and
ugly. Other oasis begin almost suddenly after
you climb down into the bowl where water is
naturally pumped up from the ground, and
agriculture is possible.
And that is very much the true reason for the
existence of Egypt's oases. Water is pressed
up from underground water reservoirs, water
which can be distributed through canals to
allow extensive agriculture. In modern times,
gasoline driven pumps are used for reservoirs
without sufficient pressure.
Until a few decades ago, before the roads were
built, the oases were quite isolated from the
rest of the world. Most of the inhabitants
never left the oasis through their entire
lives. Culture, life styles, clothes and even
language could be unique from oasis to oasis.
Much of this diversity is disappearing these
days, but still there is plenty left to
intrigue visitors. Tourism has had a positive
impact on the oases; the inhabitants have been
taught that they possess something unique, so
valuable that people from the other side of
the world come to discover it.
So which are the best oases to visit, for
anyone with limited time?. Here is my ranking,
just remember that every oasis has its own
attractions, so many other travellers would
make a very different ranking. |
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