There is a lot to cover about Siwa but I will try to keep it short. Our trip to Siwa was on a bus from Alexandria. When we went to Siwa they had not had their praved road into the city but a few years. Once the bus pulled into Siwa you got the idea that time moved at a different pace. When the paved road ended in the square that was the end of paving. All the other roads in the city were dirt. Taxis were donkey pulled carts! They also had bikes for rent.

We got out of the bus and headed out to find a place to stay. The best cheap place in town was the hotel in the pics. We got a room with a ceiling fan and 2 beds. I'm not sure that any hotel had airconditioning. We sprayed the beds down with insect repellant just in case they had fleas and headed out to see what we could see.

The lake is a salt lake. Nothing lives in it. The salt content is way high. That is a scientific term. But don't think there is no water. Siwa is an oasis! Cleopatra use to come here to rest. That is the pool she use to relax in!!

The buildings, still in the first set of pics, are old homes built on top of mounds. Most of the old mounds are burial mounds. That is Chris (the ex-bf) then me on one of the sporty bikes we rented.

This set of pics is of the largest burial mound in the city. The stories about it are truly different. People without homes use to open up old burial areas, through the bodies out, and live in the opening! Sometimes they would use the bodies and their wrappings for firewood!!

While wondering around the mound we found a large quantity of wrappings just laying on the group. I have a sample at home! Also, we found several barred gates into the mound.

We lucked out. The care taker was wondering around the space. We asked him could we get in. Basically we had to pay him a fee to open the doors but he did. It was amazing. After seeing the completely stripped Great Pyramids, these were magnificant.

As you can see the painting on the walls are completely intact. We sat around for a little while figuring out what some of the drawing meant and took a ton of pics.

Also, in Siwa was the home of the Oracle of Amun. Alexander the Great visited the Oracle in 332 BC. I think it had more to do with Cleopatra personally.