Egypt Guide
The Western Desert Oases
Kharga Oasis
Despite being the nearest of the oases to Luxor and the New Valley's capital, Kharga Oasis gets far fewer tourists than the others. This may start to change now that tourists can use the direct route from Luxor - which takes only two hours - as opposed to the day-long journey via Assyut - but other disincentives remain. El-Kharga is a 1970s metropolis of sixty thousand people with adequate facilities and a decent museum, but otherwise dull. While the oasis contains many ancient sites, most are only accessible by car, and the local police insist on accompanying tourists everywhere in town, even radioing HQ for permission before letting them step outside their hotel - which hardly makes for a comfortable atmosphere.