We are a group of 12 going on a 10 day tour of egypt. On our 3rd day we will leave our Cairo hotel (Sofitel Le Sphinx) in the morning and take a safari to Bahariya to camp overnight "under the stars". The next day we are scheduled to drive back to Cairo straight to the Abela sleeper train for Luxor. At Luxor arrival, we transfer to our Nile cruise ship. Since I have done my research on this site, I know there definitely will not be any showers for 2+ days, and toilet facilities will be rudimentary at best. Some in our group are not too keen on this aspect of the tour and the tour rep has offered staying at the hotel in the Bahariya oasis instead. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!

BTW we are leaving next week

Casual_Cairo help me out here.....

Isn't there a hotel in the town that is decent. Run by a German??? We had plans to go several times and always had to cancel due to some unforeseen emergency.

My first thought is....that is an awfully quick turnaround for a trip to Bahariya. If I recall, just the drive there is a good one, then you need to drive more to get into the desert.

bbb - those folks just need to think of it as a camping adventure! We often camped out in the desert for 2-3 nights.....no toilets, no showers, no running water.

We always had LOTS of baby wipes (moist towelettes), lots of TP, and several of the "tooth wipe" things that you can get in drug stores (not as good as brushing - but better than nothing).

A pain? Yup
Annoying? Yup
A bit stinky? Yup

But NOT getting out the Bahariya is STILL one of the things I regret not doing while we lived there.

The hotel in Bahariya town is the International Hot Spring Hotel: http://www.whitedeserttours.com/hot.htm. The owner (yes, he is a German ex-pat), Peter Wirth, is a kind and delightful man. We stayed there one night before heading out on the overnight desert camping.

Like some in your group, I wasn't keen on the idea because of the potty facilities (or lack thereof!) but apprehensively went ahead and did it anyway--and it was wonderful. Wouldn't have missed it for anything. As Grcxx3 says--just think of it as a camping adventure, and follow the advice on what to take. It was one of the best memories we have. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

If anyone stays at the hotel they will have a pleasant time, but they will be really ticked off at themselves when the rest of the group comes back and they see their photos and listen to their happy talk.

Don't miss looking at the photo gallery on the website. The first one shows something called "The Chicken", which we camped near. Here is another website that might help put folks' worries to rest: http://whitedesertegypt.com/

eve - thanks for the hotel name! I could not think of it for ANYTHING! Surprising....since I think we had reservations there 3 different times!!!!

Camping in the desert of Egypt isn't easy....did anyone mention flies??? Eve....what was your experience with the little beasts???? And I won't talk about the problems we had with wind........

BUT.....the sky is incredible! We saw shooting so many shooting stars! And there is just something magical about being out there.

Thank you everyone for your replies...I was always inclined to camping out in the desert, exactly for the good reasons mentioned. It is only for a few days afterall....I'll try to convince the others to go for it!

Well, that didn't take long at all!! My organizer made the decision that we will do the camping after all (I'm inclined to think I had a little influence....) He just sent out a group email saying we would probably regret it if we didn't, as this is a once in a lifetime trip for most! (how true). I reminded him to let everyone know about the extra wipes/tp/and of course a flashlight for those midnight pee trips! Ha!

HI BBB

You definately have to do the tour to the white desert, it is outstanding. Although the travel there, from what I remember, was about 5 hours. So it seems like a very quick turnaround in order to appreciate this area. There is a lot to see there, particularly the golden mummies, the White Desert, Black Desert, hot springs etc.

Cant they give you an extra day there?

Scotsgirl

whats your itinerary? because I would suggest you do a couple of days at the Baharia, then down to luxor for a 4 day cruise, then back up to Cairo for the rest of your tours and perhaps alexandria overnight. Much as a 7 day nile cruise is great for relaxation you can see the bulk of the sights on a 4 day cruise instead. Just my 2c worth

Scotsgirl

Hi Scotsgirl and thanks for your advice...unfortunately the tour is set ( I leave on the 21st Sep ). It does seem like a quick turnaround and we are leaving the Bahariya for a 4 night cruise Luxor/Aswan. I'm sure in the end I will feel that 10 days is not enough to explore Egypt...But what a great reason to return!