Al Quseir : The Emerging Hideaway

It is hard to believe that this quiet little town, almost obscured by the rise and fall of the desert wilderness was once a flourishing port where Arab merchants bartered for silk and spices from the Far East. Al Quseir on the Red Sea lies at the end of the shortest route possible from the Nile Valley across the desert and served as a strategic harbor from ancient times.

However, if Quseir prospered from its strategic location it has also had to bear the cross for it. From war and bloodshed to conquests, foreign occupation, and eventually abandonment, Quseir has seen it all.

Today, as you drive along the town's main road, you see only glimpses of the prosperity that was Quseir. Dominating most of the town square is the Ottoman fort, part of which serves as a visitor's center where artifacts unearthed from the neighborhood are displayed. Among them is a papyrus documenting the activities of a Roman trader which provides indisputable proof that the famed Roman port of Myos Hormos was indeed Quseir !

Over recent years a team of archaeologists from the University of Southampton in England have been returning to Quseir every spring, in the hope of adding more to the already rich collection of Roman, Islamic and maritime artifacts, and engaging the people of the town in their activities. They believe organizing temporary exhibits, educating school children about the archaeology of the site and encouraging them to have some authorship in the creation of a Heritage Center is a means of returning to the people what is rightfully theirs.

If anything, the people of Quseir are proud of their heritage. To trace the succession of empires that have left their legacy on the town and its people, one only needs to walk through the streets. Evidence of Quseir's religious fervor can be seen in the number of mosques clustered within the small township.

Children running playfully alongside the pick up truck, seemingly unperturbed by the midday sun, their shouts indistinct over the muezzin's call for prayer. In a second, they disappear up a narrow, meandering alley and bringing up the rear is a two storied bungalow in classic Ottoman style, remarkably intact.

Following the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in the 16th century, the empire sought to fortify this part of the Red Sea in order to maintain a stronghold in the region. Tamil merchants from India gave way to Muslim Sheikhs and not much later, Quseir's shores served as a convenient point for pilgrims sailing across to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for hajj.

Follow a dusty trail to the bare hillocks behind. Still deeper in and you notice that what seem, from far, as cubby holes on the cliff faces are the opening of tunnels. Where they lead to, no one volunteers to find out.

"This was once a mining town for phosphates," explains Amr, who doubles up as driver and tour guide, "but when they found that phosphates were making a lot of pollution they closed down the mines and the people left." He points to the pale yellow and pink phosphate deposits that form distinct patterns on the desert dunes.

As the wind gets stronger, threatening to break into a storm it takes more than expertise to maneuver the 4X4 jeep through the narrow twists and turns between the dunes. The picture of the old village school, its walls lying in ruins, a blackboard bereft of any writing and a few abandoned wooden benches, recedes into the background as the jeep raises a cloud of dust behind us.

Over the years when ships began rerouting from Quseir to Port Said, the people of Quseir took to fishing to make ends meet. Walking south along the beach, one can see a number of fishing trawlers beached on the sand. There is a small community of fisher folk who make a comfortable living from the giant lobsters and fat prawns they fish out from the sea.

Although widely believed to have existed from Pharaonic times, the exact whereabouts of the boat makers village remains as mysterious as the caravan trails, leaving one to wonder where myth ends and reality begins.

Quseir was virtually unknown to tourists (and curiously it still is, to many people in Cairo) until 1995, when the Movenpick hotels and resorts picked up a beautiful, pristine stretch of the bay for itself. If this stretch of Quseir still remains unspoilt, it is largely due to the efforts of the Movenpick in maintaining the environment.

The results will be obvious a few years from now, confides the Resident manager of the Movenpick Quseir. When the wear and tear on the other Red Sea locales begin to show, Quseir will perhaps remain one of the few areas still worth a visit.

Rooms at the Movenpick resort are lit using energy saving lamps, a desalination plant makes sea water usable, while the used water is recycled back after treatment to water the sprawling gardens and numerous date palms planted all along the property. One sees beach boys picking up the flotsam that the tides bring in and dump on the shores. Regulations on diving, including the number of people that are allowed per dive, are strictly enforced at the diving club on Movenpick's property.

With their fresh bakes, gourmet food and exemplary service, not to mention the recreation facilities available including the three swimming pools, the Movenpick resort remains the most recommended.

For those on more modest budgets there is the Flamenco Beach resort, or the Fanadir. The town center has a few shops to meet the basic needs, a pharmacy and a couple of cafes, though nothing fancy. Night life is virtually non existent, but then who wants to disturb the peace, anyway.

A mere one hour's drive from Hurghada, the road to Quseir is unremarkable except for the occasional towns it passes. Those on short vacations should consider Egypt Air that flies daily to Hurghada from Cairo and then take service taxis to Quseir. Or simply take the air conditioned Superjet bus that leaves Cairo (at 7 am, 8 am, 2 pm and 11 pm) daily.

Today once again, Quseir is witnessing a revival; this time born out of the reality of its past, perhaps out of the wisdom from its earlier oversights.

By Anjana Das