Once frequented almost exclusively by backpacking foreign tourists, Siwa Oasis has grown into a popular, if remote, destination for international tourists and intrepid Egyptians alike. Less than 75 kilometers from the Libyan border as the crow flies, Siwa is a sizable island of greenery in the Great Sand Sea.

It should be no surprise that desert safaris top the list of things to do at the oasis. Every hotel has its pet guide lurking near the entrance; every restaurateur has a friend with a jeep on his speed-dial list — wander through the town square and you’re bound to meet a few more. There are any number of variations on the safari theme, from a sandy afternoon tilting down monstrous dunes to several nights in a sleeping bag under the stars.

Before you settle on a guide, get recommendations. One of Siwa’s endearing traits is its size: This laid-back village is tiny, and over the course of a day you’ll probably meet most of the tourists in gardens, restaurants and historic sites around the oasis. Most of them will have done or be doing safaris on their trip and are usually glad to share their experiences.

Though far off the path of Pharaon-ophiles, Siwa has its share of antiquities. Gabal Al-Mawta (Mountain of the Dead) is honeycombed with late-pharaonic and early Greco-Roman sites, four of which are open to tourists. All that is left of the Temple of Amun is a partly reconstructed wall and a stone floor overgrown with weeds. The Temple of the Oracle, up on a hill amid the ruins of a salt-mud village, has withstood the years much better. The temple had a powerful patron in Alexander the Great, who came seeking the oracle’s confirmation that he was the son of Zeus, a key endorsement in the conqueror’s ambitions to rule Egypt. A little deeper in the palm grove is Cleopatra’s Bath, a hot spring that historians believe owes its name more to clever marketing than documented history.

Right on the tourist circuit, Cleopatra’s Bath gets a lot of local traffic. Fatnas Island, six kilometers from the town center, has an identical spring that rarely sees visitors in the morning and early afternoon. Once a charming raised patch of trees emerging from a shallow mirror-like lake, Fatnas lost its island status when the government built a causeway that effectively turned the Fatnas side of the lake into a mud flat. Visitors still come to the café to watch the sunset, however.

The best option is to arrange a midnight visit to the hot springs behind Gabal Dakrur. The spring, contained in a concrete pool, is not particularly scenic, but the steamy soak beneath the stars cannot be beat. et

The Details

Budget options abound in Siwa proper, and you can find a basic room (bed and side table) starting around LE 15. Even if there’s no room at the Palm Trees Hotel, spend some time relaxing in its garden. Better options lie further from the town square, including the Alexander Hotel (tel: (046) 460-0512, bed and breakfast for LE 60). The Kenooz Shali Hotel (tel: (046) 460-1299, LE 260 for a double) has an excellent restaurant on a treetop-level balcony. About three kilometers from town, the Desert Rose (tel: (012) 440-8164) offers a romantic haven with a pillow-lined inner courtyard and rooftop patio; a double with breakfast is LE 75, $13 for foreigners.

At the top of the lodging list is Adrere Ammellal, Mounir Neamatalla’s luxury ecolodge 17 kilometers outside the oasis (Cairo office tel: (02) 736-7879). The lodge’s walls are made of blocks of semi-transparent salt from the nearby lakes and stone from the surrounding mountains. Its roofs are made from palm tree trunks and its sparse but elegant furnishings from olive tree wood. Its swimming pool (fantastic for a late-night dip) is actually a natural hot spring. Neamatalla, chairman of Environmental Quality International, doesn’t market or advertise his $260 a night (all-inclusive with trips to desert, $400 for foreigners) 34-room facility (which he refuses to call a hotel).

Buses run three times daily to Siwa from Alexandria and twice daily from Marsa Matruh. For more information, contact the Egyptian Tourist Authority office in Siwa (tel: (046) 460-1338).