Siwa Oasis - Egypt's Gem in the Middle of the Desert (What's It Really like - 2021)

Siwa is beautiful. And strange.

An oasis in the middle of the desert, more than 300 kilometers away from the next city, it is perhaps no wonder that through this extreme isolation life here follows different rules.

In the words of Sam, a retired American that has lived here for more than 17 years: "I'll never understand the place."

Here, time has a different meaning. Here, 10 year old boys are driving pickup trucks. Here, there are absolutely zero women in public life.

The handful of women I've seen in my three weeks here have been *completely* covered, not even their eyes, hands, or feet showing. Sam told me that they have special footpaths reserved for them. Even female donkeys are kept in a separate place, never found on the streets.

At first glance an extremely conservative society, it doesn't take long to uncover the stark contradictions. The drinking of alcohol (made from the local dates) is widespread. Hashish is smoked more than liberally. Magic and shamanism are still practiced and feared. Rumors of adultery and homosexuality are ubiquitous.

It is easy to point fingers and judge coming from the outside. But one thing I've realised is that, like Sam, I'll never understand. These people live in such a different world, have been brought up in manner different manner, and see the
it's impossible to bridge this gap of understanding.

The Siwi people are not Arabs, but desert Berbers. They have their own language, history and traditions. But those are eroding, disappearing.

More and more Arab Egyptians are moving into the place via government incentive to dilute the Siwi presence. Tourism has expanded rapidly over the last decades, increasing the pressures of the 21st century.

A way of life that once was intimately connected to nature is fast becoming corrupted by the modern world. Local people that have lived off the dates, olives, vegetables and camels for centuries are now forgetting their roots in favour of, you guessed it, money. The young generation is trying to get as rich as possible, as quickly as possible.

I wonder what this place was like 40 years ago, before any road connecting it to the outside world was built, when the only way to get to civilization was by long, arduous caravans.

Видео Siwa Oasis - Egypt's Gem in the Middle of the Desert (What's It Really like - 2021) канала UnhurriedJourney