Have you been to Mars? Not?!?! And in vain, the 21st century is in the yard
I regularly fly to Egypt to enjoy the most luxurious sea in the world!! ! Diver with 10 years of experience. Before this trip I was sure. that it is the sea that gives the most positive emotions and impressions, whose extraordinary underwater world compensates for the errors of the surface world. Although if you collect all the number of monuments of ancient civilization in this country that is available to any visiting tourist, then you can undoubtedly visit something new and interesting even after arriving for the 25th time. But it was this 25th time that the country opened up with a stunning novelty of impressions and demonstrated its delights for the most sophisticated gourmets. It is not for nothing that for so many years of his life he gave preference in choosing a place for recreation to this particular country.
Although, turning to the agency, he did not even expect anything extraordinary. Requested as always, a good hotel with decent service. Most often I give preference to Azur hotels. This time, at the insistence of friends (who rested there and were very satisfied with everything and everyone in this hotel), I booked a tour at an agency in the Citadel Hotel. I didn’t have enough recommendations from friends, I was drawn to ask questions to the manager (the cutest creature): isn’t it boring there, because the hotel is far from the city and is quite isolated, it’s far and uncomfortable to go to hang out there and back to the city at a disco. To which I was told that for "special clients" with special requests, looking for vivid impressions, a special tour has been developed to very party places, where Hollywood regularly comes to shoot Star Wars. The area in the photo looked really unusual, just not real... Well, since Hollywood goes there... We'll risk it too.
I read a couple of reviews about the trip - people are really delighted with the "unearthly beauty" I was simply incredibly intrigued.
Looking forward to the departure date. Finally set off. We took off, landed clearly, without delay, We arrived at the hotel, settled quickly. We made our first tour of the hotel. The people are dark. It can be seen that the hotel is full, but not crowded, the territory is huge, superbly organized and thought out. At any time you can find "your secluded corner" by the pool, by the lagoon, by the sea... The sea... it's great. You can dive immediately to the depth, or you can wander (if you have special shoes) along the coral flooring (opposite the main hull) with a camera, take a picture of the fish emerging from the coral minks right from under your feet. The beaches are beautiful and clean. Lots of greenery. Just a Japanese garden on the beach. Kra-so-ti-scha!!!
The day of departure to the "favorite places of Hollywood" was approaching. Picked up from the hotel early, stopped in a couple more hotels, 6 people gathered, especially appreciating extreme riding on the dunes, cooling (or warming) baths in the thermal springs of the desert under the shade of palm trees, the secrets of temples covered with sand, disappeared religions and finally "Stargate" - passing through which you find yourself in another dimension in the other world... to the "White Spirits" (. . . well, for a red word). Although the feeling is exactly the same.
The first stop for downloading historical information is Luxor, ingenious temple complexes (I won’t describe in detail who was, he knows!! ! who hasn’t been - everything has long been described in thousands of reviews) In the evening we were already in the first (in my personal life) oasis Lebanese desert. We checked into the hotel, after dinner we scattered to our beds to sleep (the program of the day was rich, I wanted to comprehend the wonders of engineering thought of the past millennia seen again) and the guide set up for the same busy day tomorrow.
The first day has passed. . .
At 5 am, my eyes opened wide for new impressions. (Forcibly, special thanks to the guide : ))) Good morning desert!! ! We set off on our way… along the trodden caravan routes. Too bad they didn't offer camels. As civilized we go on wheels (thanks not on foot and in shackles). Darb Arbain. "The road of forty days", or the road of slaves - the road of suffering and agony, thousands of Africans walked along it, captured and driven to the markets of Cairo. The unfortunate overcame the path on foot under the scorching sun on the sands of more than 1000 km. There are thousands of skeletons around... (probably camels). In the silence of the sands, the time-eaten ruins of once powerful garrisons (the Romans, the Egyptians built more robustly) solemnly stand guarding the paths from the raids of robbers. We climb to one of them - Fort Laboka. Inside, the dunes unceremoniously settled, displacing household utensils. Her remains lie around the walls, attracting archaeologists and antiques collectors, treasure seekers. I, too, “for good luck” hid a piece of a pot that had lain under the sun for thousands of years... (I’ll show it to specialists at home or hand it over for examination)
And again, the temples of the pharaohs - walls covered with hieroglyphs, reliefs, bas-reliefs, the mysteries of forgotten Egyptian mysteries . . Osiris, Amon Ra...
I was especially struck by one place - again ruins, but of a very bizarre shape, it turned out that this was the Bagavat necropolis - an example of early Christianity. Approximately fifth century. There are chapels with unique frescoes. Do not disassemble immediately. Even if you take a closer look, you won’t understand without the explanation of the guide that in front of you is Noah’s Ark. Picture of course. And the name of the bearer of biblical stories is very beautiful - Chapel of Peace. Here, among the sands, almost in oblivion, in the hot embrace of the dunes, lie early attempts to bring the Good News, the Gospel to the ancient world, in the heart of sultry Africa. Nearby is another interesting chapel - the "Chapel of the Exodus" - the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, and the horsemen of the pharaoh's army chasing them. Very dynamic images of the universal drama that once played out. Egypt is called "the cradle of civilizations" for a reason.
By lunchtime, already definitely tired, we dive and somersault in thermal springs with rapture. Around the palm trees... a sea of palm trees. Curious locals are watching us "savages" from afar. We are very noisy and violent. Someone bolder slowly approaches, asks the duty officer How ar yu? Uvat from er name?
Refreshed, we head to the cool labyrinth of the old Muslim city. Another parallel reality. Clay houses of a bizarre configuration, abandoned by their inhabitants and now inhabited only by ghosts... And they feel very good - you walk in the 40-degree heat, and suddenly a chill runs down your cheek... and goosebumps in the crowd on your back . . They must be so merciful. . . Who has sensitive cameras filmed all sorts of weirdos along the road... or over the road. As the guide said, many centuries ago, the inhabitants of oases built their dwellings on a high, dry place (the oasis itself with palm trees and springs was located in a lowland) for security purposes: countless nomads often attacked the oasis, took away food, stocks of dates, clothes. And therefore, from high positions, it was easier to detect the approach of robbers. Over time, garrisons appeared and life in the oasis became more secure and safe. People moved lower into the depths of the oasis. Therefore, a little far from the oasis on a hill today you can see ghost towns.
And again we delve into the centuries. Our jeep confidently crossing the dunes rushes to the era of the pharaohs. Mazawwak and Deir El Hagar. How?! ? Doesn't this mean anything to you? What time are you in Egypt? And do you think you already know everything? Then skinte in the comments, I overslept this place with a sinful deed. I confess.
The sea of sand ends and we delicately invade the green space of the next O! O! O! OASIS. Finally! Long live universal relaxation, hello SHADOW, COOL and murmur of waters. What else do you need to be happy?? ? Shower, bed, and delicious dinner. Up! And the omnipresent son of the desert, the jin, instantly realizes our desires.
The second day of the journey has passed....And it seems like a week... Time is expanding. sometimes it shrinks, sometimes it jumps through the epochs. Such different impressions that it seems that in one day I managed to visit completely different worlds.
3rd day. Cretaceous Park.
Early in the morning we leave the already familiar world of the oasis and roll slowly into the PARK OF ABSURD. We drive slowly, accustoming the mind to the perception of the UNREAL!! ! We carefully go around the snowdrifts... Giant "Porcini mushrooms", truffles, mutant sculptures, a whole gallery of prototypes of extraterrestrial civilizations, lunar landscapes . . created by Nature, the Creator... or is the restless, incorporeal spirit of Salvador Dali hovers somewhere here ? ? ? Preparing compositions for his next incarnation?
Intoxicated with a hallucinogen floating in the air, we somehow do not help our guide very much to choose a parking spot. Everyone yells "let's get there! " - and everyone points in opposite directions. The guide ignores our hubbub (they are Russians and Russians in Africa) and methodically sets up camp for lunch. The food seems to be sobering. . . and having refreshed ourselves, we confidently make a "human trail" on our lunar rover on such an amazing planet. . . the Moon. Breathing is normal. The pulse is even, weightlessness is not observed. Communication with the Earth is absent. The group is doing well. Orientation in Time and Space - none.
Perhaps this is how a person feels in paradise.
Smoothly roll over to the far side of the moon. Someone designated these landscapes as Agabat and Akabat. Both are beautiful and mysterious as day and night. We freeze for a second, enjoying the panorama of the space that has swallowed and enslaved us. There are no thoughts. . . We listen to the buzzing vibrations of white mountains. . .
. . . Sweet as the dreams of tired fugitives are your embraces. . . A-U-Mmmm.... Our souls are slowly pouring into the body of the Rock Might in a thin stream. Enticing their unearthly beauty, these white rocks are able to absorb the mind, enriching their inner space. These are not simple rocks - this is a treasury of the secrets of the universe and evolution. After all, they originated millions of years ago, when the waters of the World Ocean covered the entire surface of the Earth. Their bodies contain thousands of life forms - single-celled, molluscs, shells, the first plants, the later remains of giant dinosaurs, whales and sharks. In every centimeter there is such a multifaceted life of the ocean, a complete chronicle of global changes in the life of the planet. All this, compressed by time and adjusted by the air element, forms such wonderful landscapes. Wind and sand trimmed everything superfluous, exposing the gaze of the universal beauty of being. But not everyone. On guard is an endless expanse of burning sand, mirages and playful genies.
-Yalla! the guide shouts, bringing us out of a deep trance and we doomedly leave the world of mirages and materialized fantasies of a crazy sculptor. . .
Still, it's good to have a sober-minded guide at your side. Time to go home to the kids. Tell a new bedtime story. About how I was on the moon. . . And in the very distant past - the era of early Christianity, the era of the pharaohs, the era of dinosaurs and the era of the absolute dominance of the World Ocean.
Home?? ? But it's only half way through. Ahead is the dangerous magic of the dunes, making their majestic journey to the end of the world. Romantics will undoubtedly admire the plastic lines, texture and coloring of the "royal dunes". As a lover of extreme sports, I liked the rolling of jeeps on an almost vertical surface of 30 meter dunes.
In its bowels, the desert conceals many treasures, but sometimes, wanting to show off its beauty and wealth, it flaunts a scattering of "diamonds of the desert. " So, before us is a sparkling "crystal mountain". Layers of sand part and powerful plates, bending and curling into bizarre shapes, bring millions of calcite crystals of various colors and sizes to the surface. Usually such beauty lurks in deep caves, where calcite crystals form the most beautiful stalactites and stagmatites. And here nature seems to be "turned inside out. "
Arriving in Egypt, probably no one ever imagined walking along the bottom of a giant crater of a volcano raging millions of years ago, which forever covered many kilometers of space with black dust, a hail of black stones and spreading lava. Welcome to the Black Desert. The guide leads us along the edge of the crater. We are in the epicenter of an extinct volcano. . . It was from here that tons of ash and stones were once spat out. Next, a half-hour jeep safari through the "Black Valley" and climbing one of the peaks of the "black gnomes", from where a fantastic panorama of the territory of the black kingdom of the Tufu volcano opens. Clouds filled the sky, partially hiding the sun. The colors thickened, further enhancing the effect of the unreal landscape. The guide below was worried about our prolonged stay at the top. Waving his arms, he began to circle at the foot, urging us to come to our senses and descend to the sinful earth. But then the clouds parted again, a bright light flooded the valley of craters and... we snapped the cameras again, starting another photo session. And yet it's time. . .
We return to the bosom of the green oasis. A small tour through the village, to the lake and "English Mountain".
The green color of vegetation has a calming effect, it seems that we are ready to return to the world of familiar things, back to civilization.
Is it necessary. . .
