About 45 km north of Farafra, the White Desert
begins. It is truly white, in clear contrast with
the yellow desert elsewhere. At night, and many of
the organized trips out here include overnight stay
out in the desert, it gets a character reminding of
an Arctic landscape.
The rock formations of the desert are often quite
dramatic, and you should not miss out on the weird
rock balancing on top of a white pillar (see picture
above).
There are no sorts of settlements or amenities in
the desert. Your chances of eating here and spending
the night is however big — many who come out here do
so as part of a guided tour which includes a night
under the open sky.
Trips into the desert is arranged from either
Bahariyya or Farafra. If you are going to both
oases, then Farafra latter is the better choice, as
it reduces the trip from about 400 km to 100 km.
Buses pass through the area, and it is not uncommon
that travellers jump off the bus to explore the
White Desert alone. Getting out of the desert is
generally no big trouble if you have plenty of time
to wait for someone with a free seat in their car or
bus.
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