The death of a village and its last inhabitants

The first day in the desert was completed by a vist to a small village outside of Kharga Oasis. Only one family still lives in this villages, which is slowly being consumed/buried by the Sahara desert. Each year it is swallowing more and more trees, homes and gardens. It is a stunning location to watch the sun set in the west. The symbolism of the sun setting and the village disappearing was not lost on us. Nor was the fact that one day archaeologists will have a tomb and some homes to find here. Moshen (our guide) is a devout Muslim and after completing his evening prayers up there on the sand dunes, we stopped in the village to visit the last inhabitants. There was an 85 yo man,sitting on a small bench seat, with bare feet and he clearly knew Moshen. From the boot of his car, Moshen produced a pair of socks and both Joy and he knelt and pulled the socks over his gnarled toes to warm his feet. This gift was complemented with the chance to hold a younger woman's hand for a while! J1 was chaperoning the whole time!!!! It was a special moment to share tea and bread together. The language difficulties were irrelevant compared to the sense of companionship that we experienced. This was a taste of real Egypt and real people living their lives on the edge of existence.