The road from Siwa to Bahariah

I'm adding some photos from the 6 hour trip from Siwa to Bahariah.  There is no official road although one is being built.  There is only about 1/4 of this journey that is completed so the rest is just tracks in the sand.  To get between these two places, you have to hire a 4x4 Land Cruiser which costs about $300 total so what most people do is get a group together to share the cost.  While I was in Siwa, the Egyptian Government decided to close the desert.  There are several checkpoints along this trip and for tourists, you are required to get special permission to even go out into the desert.  The reason the desert was closed is still unclear but it finally opened and I was lucky enough to meet 3 other people that were going.  We were told that the reason for the checkpoints is if you do not show up at the next checkpoint within a certain amount of time, they come looking for you.  Not out of concern for you but concern that you are out in the desert digging and tomb raiding.

Here's where we stopped for lunch

Crashed remnants of a helicopter.  Very unfortunate location even if there were any survivors this is far far away from anything living.