Day 5 - Egypt - Dachla - Al Qasr

 

 

 

Day 5- Dachla - Al Qasr

 

 

We dedicate the 5th day of our desert safari to the old town of Al-Qasr.

Qasr-ed Dachla is a village in the Egyptian ed-Dachla valley.

Here we meet the tour guide Yasser again, who tells us a lot about the place and its history.
On a walk through the alleys of al-Qasr, we see houses made of air-dried mud bricks, up to 4 floors high. Most houses have roof terraces, the railings of which are made of bricks or palm leaves.

The upper end of the entrance doors was often formed by a lintel beam made of acacia wood. These are labeled in Arabic and have ornaments at their ends. The inscription includes the names of the homeowners, builders, carpenters and the date of construction.

The old village center was inhabited until the 1980s and now serves as a museum village. Since then, this settlement has been researched and restored. The antique service project also promoted numerous handwritten texts and inscribed stone fragments from the period from the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century.

Old oil presses, oil and grain mills, a smithy and a pottery are still witnesses of the activities of that time.
The courthouse, a school and a harem are still well preserved.

We are particularly interested in the Nasr-ed-Din mosque.
The old mosque was destroyed in the 19th century and replaced by the current "new building". Only the old, 21 m high minaret dates from the Ayyubid period, the 11th and 12th centuries. It was built from adobe and consists of three floors. At the top, the wooden end was distroyed, so that only a wooden stick protrudes into the open sky.

Thanks to our friends, we were able to climb the minaret on partly rotten boards. What a view!

The old buildings below us look like small, damaged toy houses that nobody wants anymore, in the distance we see our Hotel Desertlodge on a hill and the mountains of the adjacent desert.

We are going to take lunch. This time we are invited by Mohamed. He has already prepared everything in his garden and his boys bring the food in warming boxes from home.
Mohammed's wife has been cooking all morning to pamper us. Thanks a lot.

As is common in the Orient, there are only very low tables and cushions to sit on at the floor. When you sit it is very funny - but until you sit!
The highlight of the day was fried, filled pigeons. Have you ever eaten something like this? I haven't yet. Amr led the way: first you tear off its head, then the wings and then you eat the chicken with skin and bones. I was still available for skin and filling, but bones ???

We then went on the digestive walk in the nearby sandy desert before we went back to the hotel at the end of the day.

We were already expected by 4 Bedouins with their musical instruments. Than they started. Music, singing and dancing - loud: yes / beautiful:?.
But it was very funny and we had a lot of fun.