Schasli needs no words. When a friend pats him on the back of his head, he forms a pyramid with his hands. "Aggressive Egyptians" means this and is here in the oasis Siwa - far away from the Nile in the middle of the Sahara - quite as serious insult to understand.
For the deaf who works in a café and has invented his own sign language is of the Berber tribe. They not only have their own identity, but also have a special bond with nature in the Egyptian oasis.
For the sign of "Siwa," therefore, Schasli bends forward, pointing both arms to the fertile ground, as if to point through him to the roots of his existence. His message: We are here, and this place belongs to us.
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Siwa in western Egypt: oasis of the oracleSiwa not only captivates its inhabitants but also travelers - and never lets go of them again. The green island in the desert is so far away from the cities of Cairo and Alexandria that travelers do not only think of themselves in another world, but also of another time.
The life of Leigh Ann Titus headed right into this parallel world, as the Australian tells. Previously, the geologist was employed by oil companies and helicopters. Today she sits in a café on the edge of the historic Shali Fortress drinking tea. Fans whir over blue tables. Everything started with a normal holiday, she says.
DPA / Benno swing hammer
Leigh Ann Titus
At the end of 2010, the Australian visited the country on the Nile and did not want to board the plane afterwards. She followed, she says, an intuition and landed in the oasis. Meanwhile, in Cairo, the bloody protests of the Arab uprisings began, the country was in a state of emergency. Titus stayed in contemplative Siwa. First for safety, later for love. "The energy in this place is anchored in the ground," says Titus, who is building a health center in Siwa. She stands as firm as a rock.
Oracle of Siwa
Only after several hours of driving on jerky roads, the mud buildings and palm groves of Siwa from the Sahara had risen, in which about 20,000 people live. The crowns of the date palms form a green carpet, over it still towers an ancient clay temple. Behind lie flat salt lakes.
"Siwa is one of the key places in the world," says Leigh Ann Titus. What she says makes most rational Central Europeans skeptical: about a "different energy field" that Siwa creates because it is in a depression below sea level. And of sinusoids that would run through this place and therefore change the vibrations.
In fact, however, the myth of Siwa originated millennia ago. The ancient Egyptians called the place "the furthest oasis," says Amr Baghi. He is the local inspector of antiquities and stands on the Mount of the Dead, overlooking the oasis. Inside the tomb also a priest for the god Osiris rests. In ancient times, Siwa was the most famous oracle site besides Delphi and Dodona, and Alexander the Great visited them in the Temple of Amun.
Siwa made his rise as a hub for the caravan trade after the first conquest of the Nile valley by the Assyrians almost 2700 years ago, explains the Egyptologist Baghi. At that time, the area around the Nile was not safe. "That is why trade from Central Africa to the sea has prospered over Siwa." The Greek influence, which is even reflected in the hieroglyphics of the graves, dates back to this time.
Baghi says Siwa has more of the spirit of Northwest Africa than Egyptian-Arab. The Berbers like to distinguish themselves from the Egyptians from the capital and elsewhere. Their customs, clothing or jewelry come from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, as do their ancestors.
"No internet, no phone"
When night falls in Siwa and the Milky Way shines, there is an almost perfect silence. The eco-lodges around the lakes usually have no electricity, the sparse light comes from burning candles or torches. "No internet, no phone, people come here for the peace and quiet, not to think about anything, not work, not stress," says Mohammed Gigal, manager of the Adrére Amellal hotel, as he wanders through the hotel's vegetable patch in the morning ,
DPA / Benno swing hammer
Hotel Adrére Amellal
The doors of the luxury hostel are made of coarse palm wood, behind are huge rooms with beds from the salt plates of the lakes. But the 42 rooms are often empty these days. A few days ago there was another group of international diplomats where Prince Charles once slept.
Since the Arab revolts in 2011, tourism in Egypt has not been easy, especially in a place like Siwa, which is only 50 kilometers from the Libyan border. "The army is taking good care of this and overseeing the desert," says Gigal. Even though the areas away from the cities in Egypt are not always safe, rest in Siwa in recent years. The oasis is also a different universe in this respect.
A place for travelers and artists
The inhabitants of Siwas are relaxed. However, their tolerance for tourists and historically-related greater openness to homosexuality than in the rest of the Arab world do not overshadow this place being one of the most conservative in Egypt.
The men dominate Siwa. In any case, outwardly. Travelers can spend a few days here without seeing native women. And when they scurry across the street or sit on wagons pulled by donkeys, a veil covers the body and face.
Siwa is a strange, different place. And in pretty much every way. Siwa is a place for travelers and artists, says Titus. She wanted to stay here, even if she was separated from her husband. He has his yacht in Mallorca. Titus, on the other hand, chose Siwa. With a grin she warns potential tourists: "There are some people like me here, we just can not get away from here."
Oasis Siwa in Egypt
Destination and arrival
Siwa is located in the Egyptian Sahara away from mass tourism. Accordingly, there are fewer travel providers and no package deals. It's a good idea to ask for transport from Cairo at one of the respected local hotels. The drive from the capital to Siwa can take ten hours. Charter flights landing on a runway near the oasis are the exception. Travel in the months of May to September should be avoided because of the extreme temperatures of up to 50 degrees.
overnight stay
Although there have been no incidents in Siwa for many years, the oasis is more of a destination for the adventurous and backpacker. Nevertheless, it can be really expensive in some of the best hotels - rooms for several hundred euros per night are possible. For all others there are simple accommodations at typical prices (10 to 20 euros per night).
information
Embassy of the Republic of Egypt, Tourism Department, Kurfürstendamm 151, 10709 Berlin (Tel .: 030/188 72 46 70, E-Mail: info@egypt.travel, http://de.egypt.travel).