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A beautiful green lake sits among this ocean of yellow sand, but Siwa has more than just breathtaking sceneries, it carries a culture of its own; local habitants of Siwa actually speaks their own language, which is more like the language spoken by the Berber (desert people from further west), than the Egyptian Arabic spoken in the rest of Egypt.

Siwa Oasis
Siwa Oasis

Located approximately 350 miles from Cairo, east of the Libyan border, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt’s best western desert oases with its thousands of palm trees and gorgeous hot springs.

Until the 1980’s when a highway was finally completed connecting it to the coastal town of Mersa Mahruh, it was completely isolated from the rest of the country. Technologies such as television and phones were introduced relatively recently and the internet only within the past few years.

There is an increasing number of hotels ranging from budget hostels to a 5-star eco-lodge in the oasis and the tourist trade is now firmly rooted as part of the local economy, but this has not managed to affect the core of the life in Siwa. To this day Siwa is still a very conservative community and visitors are recommended to respect their local cultural values. Alcohol is banned and local women are rarely seen outside of their houses, it is very welcoming to visitors and the slow pace of the Siwan life is incredibly intoxicating.
Until 1926 the entire population of the oasis lived in a 13th-century mud-brick fortress at the center of town known as Shali, but it was completely destroyed by a heavy 3-day rainstorm.

The weather in Siwa is almost always fine and the sun never fails to shine. However, there are sometimes of the year in which it can be better to come in than others. It is advisable to visit Siwa in the cooler months of the year, from October to April, as the temperature in summer can be quite hot.

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