Walk Like an Egyptian: Black and White Deserts

This weekend I went on a school "organized" trip to the Black and White deserts here in my lovely Egypt!!

There is no way to describe the beauty of what I saw there. Im just gonna set that disclaimer out there...
The pictures cant even show it. It's okay though, this is a memory that will stay with me forever!

As one might expect in Egypt, there were a ton of glitches getting there and back... the bus ride was 4 hours and pretty much insufferable... without going into any rants, I'll just say this: No one was in charge. No one gave us any information or told us how long the bus ride would be. The bus drivers stop to take smoking breaks. There is only one rest stop the entire time. And the bus broke down a few times on the way home. Ok, anyway...

After the bus ride was over we freshened up at a hotel called "Garden Under the Moon Camp" and from there we transfered into jeeps and headed farther towards nothingness. Our first meal was at a little Bedouin restaurant where we sat on mats on the floor and scooped our arabic salad and pasta with delicious peta bread.
After that we off-roaded a lot and stopped to take pictures at a few gorgeous sites.
When we finally got to our "camp site" the sun had almost set and we were just in pitch-blackness (it must have been 6pm or so).
The drivers made a half circle with the jeeps and then made a little fire and put down mats and a table for us to eat at. Then we spent the night eating delicious chicken and rice and dancing and singing around the fire.
Sophie, Alex and I also wandered around the blackness with the handy flashlights in our phones and climbed some limestone.

My favorite part of the night was when Sophie and I went to use the bathroom (I know, but just wait..)
We set off in search for a spot and ended up in the middle of a circle of boulders pretty far away from camp. Behind the limestone we could no longer see the glow of our camp fire and could only faintly hear one of the drivers playing a drum. The moon hadn't come up yet and the stars were the only light. Sophie and I stood a few yards apart, heads looking straight up, in complete silence, for what might have been 15 minutes or 5 hours. Eventually we both ended up laying on our backs on the sand.

It was completely euphoric, there's no other way to describe it. There were more stars than I'd ever imagined were out there. And everything else was pitch black. Orion's belt was hard to identify because there were so many other stars around him. The north star was as bright as the moon. I couldn't take it all in.
And it was soooo quiet. Have you ever heard complete silence? It took my breath away (literally). I was afraid to make any noise and ruin it. Even running my hands under the sand was loud.
It was really one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I felt small and infinite and overwhelmed and just extatically happy. At pure peace with everything that has ever happened in my life, thankful that Ive been so blessed, thankful of the road that has brought me here. Not one single negative thought in my head.
It was amazing. And I saw 9!! shooting stars!!
I can't describe it, and I probably sound like a lunatic whenever I talk about it, but it was incredible. I feel like that's what the state of Nirvana is supposed to feel like.

Anyway, just go there. If it's the last thing you ever do. Go there.

After an hour or so, Sophie and I headed back to camp for some campfire dancing and tea. We stayed up after most people had fallen asleep just practicing arabic with the drivers. Abdula was my favorite driver, he had us write our names in arabic in the sand and we practiced vocabulary with each other. It was really awesome talking to them. I wish I could have their jobs, they've made a career out of driving, setting up tents, BBQing chicken and playing music in the most beautiful place on earth.
After a few cups of tea we got settled and went to bed. Bed being a very thin mat and a very thin blanket. Then we proceeded to freeze the night away.
As we were falling asleep Sophie said "I dont want to close my eyes and miss anything" and as she said that a huge commit lit up across the sky.
So beautiful.

In the morning we watched the sun rise about 530 or so, and finally got to see our surroundings!!!
GAH!
The white desert is so incredible, it's wind-worn limestone boulders all over the place, some are climbable, some look like faces, its so beautlful.
We couldnt figure out though if we were on the moon, Tatooine, Antarctica or some kind of Dr. Suess land.
We had a delicious continental breakfast of bananas and honey and bread and then hit the road to the black desert. On the way there we stopped at a place called Crystal Mountain because of all the quarts it's produced. It was really cool! Then we went to the black desert, which looks like a bunch of little volcanoes. We climbed up one, and the view from the top was incredible.

Before we made it to the bus, our jeep got stuck in the sand. And when I say stuck, I mean the tire was so deep in the sand that I didn't have to step down while getting off. After watching the drivers struggle for a while and asking them if they needed help, they grudgingly let me help them push it out, and, well... I saved the day pretty much =) It was kinda of epic!! After that, we began our slow and uncomfortable trek home, still very satisfied with our weekend!

White Desert, someday I will return, and I promise I will never forget you!!
<3