Buenas,
Yo me voy a atrever hacer en coche la ruta azul y verde, así que os cuento mi experiencia a l vuelta en Noviembre. Por lo que he leido en internet, si es viable .
Os pongo un comentario que lei (esta en ingleS).
I had problems finding people with the same itinerary, so I've posted mine. Hope it helps people planning to travel this route, a little of the desert, a little beach, and a little touristy destinations.
Period: 15 - 28 Nov
People: 3 guys
Style: Backpacking
Guidebooks: Rough Guide [RG] + Lonely Planet [LP]
Special note: Pls bring pens. Lots of them, especially ones you get for free. There will be Egyptians who will ask for pens instead of money as tips. This is because these people want good quality "foreign" pens for their children to write with in school. I find this very noble, and regretted not bringing more to Egypt.
Day 1: Arrive Cairo 5.30am. Took a airport bus, then public bus [1LE] to downtown Cairo. Managed to make our way to somehow to Turgoman Station [Cairo Gateway]. We got tickets (direct) to Siwa for 65LE/p. Bus leaves 7+pm. Pretty decent bus.
Day 2: Reach Siwa at 5am. It was the Eid al-Adha, so everywhere was booked out. We had to wait to 12pm for people to check out before we got a place anywhere.
Hotels: Shali and Albabenshal Lodge is extremely pretty. The roof of Albabenshal is a place to take photos of the town just before the sunrise.
We didn't stay in Yousef, but its owner Yousef was very friendly.
We stayed in El Kelany. Decent place for about 100+ LE for 3 people.
Food: Abdu restaurant has a convenient location, and serves pretty decent food.
Nour El Waha - Fantastic laidback ambience and great food for reasonable price! Come at night, when you can smoke Shisha, have dinner, and chat up fellow travellers around a bonfire.
Restaurant right in front of Albabenshal: I don't remember the name, but this restaurant serves great roasted chicken at night + camel kebab.
Activities: The standard fare includes dune driving (our driver did some "stunt" driving up and down steep dunes!), going to hot (scam) and cold (beautiful) spring, fossil site (full of ugly broken shells), and finally to watch the sunset. For the adventurous, remember to try out sandboarding!
Day 4: We booked a private 4WD for 3 people for 1300LE per vehicle at Siwa Friends/Tourist Association [check rough guides for address]. Most places will charge you 1500LE. You will need to book one day in advance as military permits (pay separately) are needed. Bring lunch along as there are no restaurants along the desert highway.
The desert view is simply stunning, and we passed by a chasis of a (german) fighter place supposedly from WWII in the middle of the desert.
Day 4 late noon (Bahariya Desert): We reach Desert Safari Home in the early evening after about 8 hours in the car. It's a pretty and clean place, relatively cheap if you book through hostelworld.com. It is run by a father and his son. The son is a jolly young chap, extremely friendly and helpful. His father, however, is a different story. He would not hesitate to conveniently round up/add in any cost not clarified beforehand, and gets impatient if you ask too many questions and show that you are on a tight budget. However, if you are very clear all prices agreed upfront, then it shouldn't be any problem.
Food: It is hard to find food anywhere. You can check LP or RG, but easiest and reasonably cheap option is to dine at Desert Safari Home.
Day 5: The usual package is a visit to a nearby spring, crystal mountain, black and white desert, with a overnight stay highly recommended. We didn't go to the spring as it was supposedly closed on that day, crystal mountain was quite scammish (small pieces of quartz scattered about), black desert is just a desert with lots of black rocks, but white desert is amazing! Lots of really strange rock formation, and as we had a full moon that night, everything was a ghostly and beautiful white. Our guide was fantastic, making dinner, tea, and then singing some Arabic songs acapella style! It was a riot!
Even though it was supposedly winter, it wasn't really freezing. We slept without a tent, and a sleeping bag, jacket, and a winter cap was good enough. We paid about 350+/p LE for the 2D1N trip, for a group of 3 people, to Desert Safari Home.
Day 6: After packing up at 7am, we left the White Desert on a privately chartered car to continue our journey to Luxor. We paid 1400 LE for the car, which includes stopping by Al Qasr for a short 1 hour visit.
Tip about getting from Bahariya to Luxor: Private car seems to be the easiest way, but rather pricey unless you have 4 people. We found that it is possible to take public buses from Bahariya to Dharkla, and then from Dharkla to Luxor. It might be cheaper, but the timing and bus-stops are unpredictable.
Activities: We paid Al Qasr a visit. Interesting place, but will probably be interesting for only an hour. You can read more on LP.
Hotel: We stayed overnight at the El- Negoom Hotel [LP]. Comfortable and clean.
Day 7: Continue our private car journey, until we reach Luxor at 4pm.
Hotel: Venus hotel. Central location, near a souk, Luxor Temple, and pretty honest folks. But it was a pretty worn down hotel, and hot/cold water wasn't acting too well. 100 LE/night for AC room.
Acitivities: We went to Luxor Temple at night. It looked really nice at night, especially with a full moon! Highly recommend time to visit.
Day 8: Karnak Temple in the afternoon. You can book a cab to get you there, and then ask him to pick you up about 2 hours later. Pretty majestic, but gets tiring after a while in the heat. Reeks of tourism.
Food: We went to Pudleduck! It's the
#1 restaurant on tripadvisor for Luxor, but its prices are not! Really worth a visit.
Day 9: We booked a tour for the Valley of the Kings/Queens/Queen Hatshepsut. Not terribly exciting, but worth a visit. We got our tour at 135 LE for student price; adult price should be just below 200 LE. This includes all admission tickets, bus, an English speaking guide. It's a better deal than packages without tickets, as queuing up for tickets can be a bi*ch. From the same agent, we were quoted a student price of USD$60+ for a hot air balloon ride. We didn't go, so no guarantees about quality, but just letting you know how low it can go.
Day 10: We set off for Marsa Alam. For those unfamiliar with Marsa Alam, it is a beach-side town popular for diving. For those who don't dive, there are other activities like snorkeling, desert sailing, star gazing at night, etc. For those strapped for time/money, and not able to go to Sharm El Sheikh or Dahab, Marsa Alam is an excellent replacement!
Transport: Many people in Luxor will tell you that the (shortest) road from Edfu to Marsa Alam is closed to tourists, and propose to bring you through Al-Quseir, or worse, Safaga ; this is outdated, untrue, and double the travelling time.
If you're not able to get anyone to bring you through Edfu, contact Thomas @
www.redseadesertadventures.com/
He brought us to Marsa Alam @ 90 Euro, and managed to get us comfortable accommodation at Shagra Village at a 30%. Discount (simply because we were his guests). And Shagra Village and its beach is simply beautiful!
Activities: Besides diving and snorkeling, I would recommend desert sailing. It is just like sailing, but with wheels on a flat desert land, at pretty incredible speeds. It is like nothing we've tried before. We also went for a star gazing at night, really beautiful and informative. If not, you can just laze around, read a book, relax. Really beautiful place.
Day 11 night: We took a overnight sleeper bus from Marsa Alam to Cairo. Bus leaves at 8pm, 70 LE/p, takes about 10 - 12 hours.
Day 12 to end: There's nothing much in Cairo, just the mandatory tourist spots like the Pyramids. A typical tour will cost about 300 LE and includes a guide, transport to Giza Pyramids, Step Pyramids, a Papyrus scroll-factory, and Memphis area. Memphis is a scam after you've visited the rest of the tombs in Luxor. The rest good for photo taking and your tourist checklist.
Hotel: We stayed at the Vienna Hotel, just below Dahab hotel. Vienna is comfortable and clean, while Dahab does seem a little filthy.