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Mark enjoying this great couch they had set up by the pool, a perfect setting for a good read

We spend lots of time in cities but every so often we like to get a bit off the grid. Al Tarfa definitely qualifies as “off the grid.” Almost precisely in the center of Egypt, well down into the Sahara Desert, Al Tarfa is a desert lodge whose closest town is El-Rashda. And no, no one else has ever heard of El-Rashda either.

To get down here takes a 90-minute flight from Cairo and then a two-and-a-half hour drive across the desert. And then, suddenly out in the middle of nowhere is this charming little lodge, a fabulous place to get away from everything.

Hard to believe you’re in the middle of the desert when it’s this beautiful

This is the sort of place where everyone staying arrives on the same day and leaves on the same day, so our time there – from the flight down on Petroleum Air Services to the drive out and then back up to Cairo three days later – was with four Egyptian women from Cairo who became great friends. Two of them, Iris & Dina, were Coptic (i.e., Christian) Egyptians, sisters about my age who had grown up in Cairo. They both became anesthesiologists and now live in Bethesda, MD; they come back a couple times a year to visit their apparently quite active 84-year-old mother. The other two women, Sally & Dareen, were 30-something friends living in Cairo but whose English – like the older women – was pretty much perfect.

The six of us hanging out in the mostly abandoned village of Al Qasr. To my left that’s Dina, Iris, Sally, Mark, & Dareen. Such fun getting to know them all.

Spending time with these four women was always interesting, often helpful as they translated and explained for us, and often insightful as we could understand contemporary Egypt better through their eyes. Iris & Dina, Christians quite apparently from a privileged family, and Sally & Dareen, secular Muslims with good educations, had different life experiences of course but still helped us understand modern Egypt.

And then there’s the whole ancient Egypt part, the stuff you come to see. Our first excursion was to Al Qasr, an Ottoman oasis town dating from the early 16th century. Now largely abandoned (though there is a nearby town of a few hundred people), the old town consists of a warren of narrow streets between buildings of mud brick that apparently do a remarkable job of keeping this (comparatively) cool in the summer heat. And just how hot does it get? I asked our guide and he said that in the summer it can get to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, the desert. Oh, and dry too – he said it last rained 12 years ago. Since then you might get a little spritz a couple times a year but the last real rain was 12 years ago.

The old mud brick buildings of Al Qasr

At any rate, the old village made for a lovely little excursion. But there was more, too, ancient Egyptian stuff, old Roman ruins that seem practically new in comparison, a necropolis. It’s a little hard to get your head around this notion of people living in this dry, hot, remote place, but they have for millenia and, because of the dry climate, the ruins are often in surprisingly good shape. And apparently whenever you’re in the desert they arrange for at least one sunset out on the dunes. This one didn’t include sparkling wine as others have, but it was still beautiful and just great fun to walk around in just a remote place with just nothing at all except the sand dunes, a surprising spring-fed pond, and four new friends. And then the excitement of getting stuck in the sand as the sun was setting, not at all sure if we would be able to get the vehicle out. (We did.)

Sunset across the desert

Through it all, the star of the show was Al Tarfa Lodge itself. When we weren’t out exploring ancient ruins you could just hang out in the glorious quiet and read and relax, maybe chat with your new friends. The food was great; we are addicted to this Egyptian dip of a relatively light feta cheese blended with olive oil and then mixed in with a bit of chopped tomato; it’s heavenly. All that just remarkably inexpensive, so all in all it can’t be beat. If you’re ever in Egypt do yourself a favor and head out there. It’s worth the several hours it takes to get there.

How remote is Al Tarfa? That’s the baggage claim area for the “airport” we flew into.

From there we flew back to Cairo before heading down to Upper Egypt (yes, Upper Egypt is south of Lower Egypt, as all that is relative to the Nile and the Upper Nile is in southern Egypt) for a week-long cruise.

Our home for three nights. The same mud brick construction they’ve used here for hundreds and hundreds of years but fortunately filled with modern amenities like running water and electricity.

Our last dinner together was a beautiful candle-light affair. Sally in particular wanted to be in bed by 8:00 PM but she stayed up for this barbecue.

Mark wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the couch at Al Tarfa

Mark & I in front of an unexpected little lake on our sunset excursion

That’s a lot of nothing out in the desert

That little dot is me out there, just taking a walk. I wasn’t really that far away and was careful to keep our friends and the jeep in sight.

Mark with Dina & Iris

Here I am hanging out with Dareen & Sally

Iris at sunset

And with the sun setting we suddenly found ourselves stuck in the sand. It took a lot of digging and pushing and sweeping and pushing to get us out and for a while Mark & I were distinctly skeptical of our chances but apparently the guides knew what they were doing and we managed to escape.

Meanwhile, back at Al Qasr our guide had a little sidekick, Yusuf, who was just the cutest little kid. Never said a word as far as I remember, but always there to do whatever little odd job the guide needed.

One of the little figurines for sale, an old muezzin calling a prayer from the Koran

And here we have an imam pulling a little boy’s ear for not studying the Koran properly while his little friend looks on in fear

On our way out of Al Qasr we came on this guy making serrated knives. Basically he took knives and one-by-one filed individual teeth into them. That’s a pretty laborious way to do the job.

A view from outside the old town of Al Qasr

Here we are outside an ancient Egyptian temple. At the time I’m sure we were told what it was, when it was built, and who it honored but … for now let’s just say it’s an old Egyptian temple.

Sisters Iris & Dina. While they’re both anesthesiologists living in Bethesda, their little sister is completely different. She’s an anesthesiologist living in Pittsburgh. Completely different.

One of the things that just astounded us in seeing these old Egyptian ruins is that here we are, thousands of years later, and the colors still show up

See what I mean by color?

Mark and Sally outside one of our last stops

Me & Dareen waiting to board our flight back to Cairo

Here we are on the tarmac, bidding adieu