Today we had some problems to start with that followed us for a bit. I will say this if you are heading to the Siwa Oasis do not stay at the Keylany Hotel. The prices have gone up significantly.
While it is true as the reviews have suggested that the place is clean and the water is hot that is about the only decent thing about the place. While it might have once been a good budget hotel it can not make that claim any longer.
The prices have gone up significantly. Now we wore that thinking it was half our fault. We booked a room in advance before arriving in Siwa due to the time we would be arriving and the number of people we have in our group. When the price was quoted on the phone and agreed to we though it was for the whole stay. It turned out to be per night. Even for two nights we though it was higher than it should be but not really too bad. Per night it was a rip off.
When we balked at the price the owner brought out the ‘oh but you booked and I’ve turned away people who could have used those rooms so you’ll have to pay for the rooms if you go.’ Thinking the fault was at least half ours and that he was right if he’d turned away people then we did have to pay for at least the night. So we stayed.
The problem we discovered on checking in was that he’d lied. Not that surprising in this part of the world I guess. The place was empty besides us, and no wonder given what they are charging. He’d used the ‘oh but I turned others away’ line to make us stay.
This morning when we checked out and asked what we owed the staff member behind the desk checked what rooms we’d been in and gave us a price. Now it was less than the original price we’d been given so we double checked. We were told that was the price. So we paid what was asked of us and left. We were somewhat happier with the price asked. While still higher than we’d expected for the place it was closer to what we’d expect to pay.
While we were out in the desert on the start of the Safari our guide / driver’s mobile started ringing (at least when we were on the top of the dunes). The guide handed it to Lou and that’s when the abuse over the phone started.
To cut a long story short the owner had managed to track us down. Siwa is not really that big and was demanding more money. Claiming that the staff didn’t know the ‘new special price’ he’d set which some how translated to being our fault.
To put it bluntly the man is a liar and a rip off merchant, stay elsewhere in the Oasis. The Keylany is certainly not worth the hassle and what ever you do if you get stuck having to stay there make sure that no one there has your mobile number.
4WD Safari - Day 1 - The Great Sand Sea
We headed off in our 4WD into the Great Sand Sea, or at least into its outskirts. Our driver really couldn’t speak much English, although since we do not speak much Arabic I guess that’s about even. He’s got a little of the kamikaze in him though and turned out to be lots of fun.
He’d bolt up to the top of a deceptively mild looking dune then stop suddenly on the top shaking his head and making a ‘tisking’ sound looking at us all to make sure we had a good look at the somewhat large and steep drop, then plunge down the side of the dune. It was a load of fun. Or I thought so. Lou was fine by the end of the day although I think Katherine really didn’t like it one bit.
At one point we stopped at the top of a dune to get a look at the surrounding area. Katty started jumping down the dune then running back up. She was grinning like a cheshire cat. She then convince me that I should join her. Since the others just stood there shaking there heads, I sighed and figured that I had best jump down the dune with her. I thought it might tire her out a little anyway. Now don’t tell her I said so but it was fun, at least a little…
Later in the day we also stopped at a couple of Oasis. One hot and one cold spring. We spent some time dangling our feat in the water but decided against the swimming part, mainly due to the not wearing bathers thing but also due to some others who were bathing going an interesting copper colour.
At the cold spring there was a whole group of young rowdy people there destroying the peace so it perhaps was not as nice as it could have been.
We ended up making camp out in the dunes putting up our tents for the night and going off to our own pursuits for a time. Katty went to climb a dune and sit to watch the sunset. Dad and Mum were reading for a bit. I put some music on at Lou’s suggestion, something mellow as seemed to suit where we were. It turned out to be a nice night lying on the blanket after dinner looking up at the stars in the Northern Sky.
Katty and Lou started a game ‘Name that Constellation’ it was a laugh and I eventually joined in. Among the suggested names was ‘The Laptop’, ‘The Pram’, ‘The Arrow’, ‘The Pyramid’ ....
