Dakhla is among the most remote Oases being far from both Cairo and Luxor. Yet it is well worth the expenditure in time and effort. You pass from Farafra along one of the loneliest stretches of road in Egypt. If you stop, you can stand by your silent car and hear nothing but the wind for ages.
It is a large oasis covering a large area with many small villages and hamlets. You will know when you have arrived as many of the farmers like to wear straw hats- which you do not see in other oases.
Dakhla is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited places in Africa, or rather Mut, its largest town is.
Mut, which means mother in the Ancient Egyptian tongue, is really the mother of all dwelling places. Houses carbon-dated to 13,000 years ago have been unearthed there.

Qasr
Balat City in DakhlaDakhla is home to many ancient remains, hot springs and towering over it – the escarpment which dominates the skyline on the northern side. In the oasis town of Qasr (like many of the Oases, the main town is called Qasr after the fortress) a Dutch lead team of locals have succeeded in almost completely rebuilding the dark mud walled old town.
This place of narrow alleys and secret passages is one of the great sights of Dakhla. Lose yourself in an endless labyrinth which is like something out of desert sequences in "Starwars" or the movie "The Sheltering Sky".

Deir El Haggar
Deir El Haggar few kilometres before Qasr is the intriguing Roman ruin of Deir El Haggar. This place was once under the sand- which helped preserve the paint on the carvings. There is something very recent about paint and to see some that is 2000 years old is quite amazing. One can compare oneself to the great explorer Rolhfs who signature can be seen quite clearly on a column in front of the temple of Deir El Haggar.
But he carved it when the sand was much higher. Now cleared away to reveal more of the temple, his graffiti is a good three meters above the ground.
Across the way from this restored Roman temple complex are conical hills full of tombs. Some have been excavated, some robbed but as you cast your eyes further there are many more similar looking hills spread throughout Dakhla.

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Plan Your TripBiking in Mut
To see all the antiquities in Dakhla you can ride in the back of a pick-up, take a taxi or hitch lifts. Better, probably, is to hire a pedal bike.
You can hire bicycles in all the Oases. Mut is no exception- though with its wide largely empty roads it makes for some of the best on-road cyclings in Egypt
Egypt Oases
- Farafra Oasis Egypt
- Siwa Oasis Egypt
- Bahariya Oasis Egypt
- Dakhla Oasis Egypt
- Kharga Oasis Egypt
- El Fayoum Oasis Egypt
- Oases Practical information
- Valley of El Heiz Western Desert
- English Mountain in Bahariya Oasis
- Black Desert in Egypt
- Badr’s Heritage Museum in Farafra
- White Desert Bahariya Oasis Egypt
- Crystal Mountain Bahariya Egypt
- Whale Valley
- Agabat
Red Sea and Sinai
- Dahab and Nabq Bay Sharm El Sheikh
- Taba and Taba Heights
- What to do in Hurghada
- Sharm El-Sheikh Egypt
- Port Ghalib Red Sea
- Mount Sinai & St. Catherine's Monastery
- El Gouna in Hurghada Red Sea
- Ras Mohamed National Park
- Things to do in The Red Sea and Sinai
- Safaga Port Red Sea Egypt
- Marsa Alam Red Sea Egypt
- The colored canyon and Pharoah Island in Sinai
- Red Sea Snorkeling
- Soma Bay Resort, Red Sea
- Sindbad Submarines Hurghada
- Burning Bush St. Catherine Monastery
- Red Sea & Sinai Practical info
- Do's & Don'ts
- Makadi Bay in Hurghada
Alexandria Attractions
Cairo Attractions
- Hanging Church (El Muallaqa, Sitt Mariam, St Mary)
- Bent Pyramid at Dahshur
- Djoser Step Pyramid in Saqqara
- Saint George Church, Old Cairo
- The Egyptian Museum in Cairo
- The Great Pyramids of Giza
- Khan El Khalili Bazaar in Cairo
- Ben-Ezra Synagogue in Cairo
- Suez Canal Egypt
- The church of Saint Barbara in Egypt
- The Great Sphinx in Giza
- Fortress of Babylon in Old Cairo
- Traditional Tanoura Show in Cairo
- Saqqara Stepped Pyramid
- Saladin Citadel & Mohammad Aly Mosque
- Memphis Necropolis in Egypt
- Coptic Cairo
- The Solar Khufu Ship Museum in Egypt
- Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids of Giza
- The Valley Temple in Giza Cairo
- Pyramid of Teti at Saqqara
- Snofru’s northern Red Pyramid
- Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo
- Al-Hakim Mosque, Cairo
- Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo
- Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo
- Al Rifai Mosque in Cairo
- Bab Al Futuh in Cairo
- Bab zwayla in Cairo
- Al muizz Street, Cairo
- Al-Hussein Mosque, Cairo
Luxor Attractions
- Mummification Museum in Luxor
- Colossi of Memnon in Luxor
- Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor
- Valley of the Kings
- Kom Ombo Temple
- Dendera Temple Egypt
- Temple of Edfu
- Temple of Khnum in Esna
- Luxor Temple of Egypt
- Luxor Museum Egypt
- Karnak Temple in Luxor Egypt
- Kalabsha Temple Near Aswan
- Edfu Sound and Light Show
- Sound and Light Show at Karnak Temple Luxor Egypt
- The Temple of Abydos in Egypt
- Temple of Hathor Egypt
- Valley of the Queens in Luxor
- Hot Air Balloon Ride in Luxor Egypt
- Ramses II Mortuary Temple
- Temple of Horus
- Seti I Temple
- Luxor Bird Watching
- Medinet Habu
- Ptolemaic Temple of Deir El-Medina
- Temple of Amenhotep III
- Howard Carter House
- Valley of the Nobles
- Asasif Tombs in Luxor
- Tomb of Tutankhamun
Egypt information
Diving in Egypt
Fayoum Attractions
The Nile Valley
- Abu Simbel Temples Egypt
- Cairo and Giza Egypt
- Do's & Don'ts Egypt | Know before you go Egypt
- Aswan City Egypt
- Long Nile Cruise Journey
- Luxor City Egypt (Attractions and Things to Do)
- Felucca Ride on the Nile River
- Which Nile Cruise is the Best for you | Best Nile Cruises
- Dammam City: The Eastern Province's Coastal Jewel:
Aswan Attractions
- Lake Nasser Egypt
- The majestic Philae temple of Aswan
- Abu Simbel Temples
- Aswan City Egypt
- The High Dam in Aswan Egypt
- The Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan
- Philae Sound and Light show
- Kitchener's Island in Aswan
- Nubian Museum in Aswan
- Nubian Villages in Aswan Egypt
- Aswan souk | Aswan Old Market
- Elephantine Island
- Fishing in Lake Nasser
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An Egyptian Desert Safari adventure to explore not only the magnificent ancient sites of Pharaonic Cairo at the Pyramids and Great Sphinx but the unspoilt and vast landscapes of Egypt in the Desert regions with Oasis’s, canyons and rock formations.
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