Circumnavigating the Western Desert: Part Four–Mut, a quite little town.

I arrived at Mut in the evening, after completing my visit of Bashendi village. From Bashendi one can take a microbus to Mut, the frequency of microbus is good.

Earlier in Kharga, while visiting its Museum- I met its curator, Mohammed and had casually told him the despicable condition of my Hotel, he heard me sympathetically and advised me to go to El Nogoom hotel in Mut. He vouched that I will just fall in love with the hotel. So after alighting at the bus station, I straight away walked towards the mentioned Hotel. El Nogoom turned out to be one of the most comfortable hotels I have ever stayed, neat and clean, compact with lots of personal touch- the owner, who doubled up as the janitor and guide was a wonderful person.

In Kharga, the hotel that made me wonder at the utility of doing the desert trek, so much so that I called up my wife and wondered if I can take the next bus to Cairo and come back; she reminded me of even tougher journeys, I have been through and built up my confidence. And in contrast, in this hotel I was wondering as to, where is the need to roam around in the endless desert, just stay here do some sightseeing and go back to Cairo from here.

The city of Alexandria is often described as the greatest historical city with the least to show. If I can borrow the same analogy, then Mut is the most serene town in the Western oases, which has least to show. And whatever it does have is nothing unique. Still Alexandria never fails to captivate and so does Mut. There is something too enticing about the whole atmosphere of Mut. It is simple, friendly, laid back, honest and welcoming town, much like Alexandria. You feel as if it's your second home.

To roam around, Mut has the old town of Mut- or rather its ruins.

Ancient desert towns were made of mud-brick. The architecture was not only eco-friendly, but also energy saving, using the vagaries of nature to its own advantage. I was told in Al Qasr, that the mud-brick town of Al Qasr is always 5-10 degree centigrade cooler than the environs. Slowly but surely, the mud brick architecture gave way to concrete structure and then the rest was history. Still a few such towns remain, in entire North Africa. The best example is in Timbuktu, Mali.

I went to visit the ruins of Old Mut town in the evening, it was getting dark and here I was roaming in the ruins amidst deadly silence- punctuated by a rustle here and there, of donkeys lying between four walls of ruins of houses. Apparently the entire village was vacated by the people in favour of concrete, though certain houses are still being used as donkey sheds. In the ruins I saw a wondrous game of lights and shadow, of silence and noise…fascinating and yet frightening. As if suddenly I was transported into a world of horror and loneliness.

It's indeed amazing as to how the human settlement and lack of it makes a place, different. Settlements have their own beauty, the mere presence of humans in a place provide varied colours to a spot.

I am always reminded of Fatehpur Sikri, the ghost town which Akhbar created as his second capital, but could not ever settle over there…the entire place is magnificent and yet it leaves an emotion much more than that of appreciation of beauty…it leaves you with a degree of disbelief and fear…is it for real, and what if it is for real.

After a while of roaming in the ruins, I headed for the new town… the new town is a tranquil place…a beautiful mosque, a slow moving life revolving around a few things, like the mosque and a bakery. The sights were indeed heartwarming. Thereafter I was guided by my hotel owner to have food in Ahmed Hamdi's restaurant, which he claimed was the best place to have food in entire Egypt. I can't vouch for what he said, but what Ahmed served was a pure delight- Lentil soup, Baladi bread, Mulkhaiyya, Roasted chicken, a mound of Salad with many a herbs and assorted vegetables and fruits.

It was time to say good night. I chatted with the hotel owner for hours before sleeping to realize that Mut hides a lot of day excursion in the vicinity. There are Hot Springs, villages of Qalamoun, Rashda and Budhukulu (which has a 12^th century mud brick mosque), Deir Al Hagar- a pharaonic temple that was later converted into a Coptic monastery and the Muzakawa tombs, which still have some mummies lying in-situ. But he said that I can leave them all to go to Al Qasr, which is the most beautiful place in the entire oases. This was the third time I was hearing about the beauty of Al Qasr, and when I headed towards the Western Desert- I had never heard about the place.

The next day before leaving for Al Qasr, I visited the Dakhla ethnographic museum- housed in a small, unassuming building, the place is bound to escape you attention but amasses a wonderful collection of art, artifacts, sculptures, photos and information about the life in oases. I had earlier visited such a place in Siwa, called Siwa house and yet I feel the museum I saw at Mut was superlative.