Egyptian treasures - Mut

Dakhla's capital, MUT , was branded a miserable-looking place by travellers early last century, but it has come on apace since the 1950s, as the Dakhlans have subverted or embraced planned "modernity" according to their needs and tastes. The architect of Mut's already crumbling low-rise flats is unlikely to have foreseen their balconies being converted into extra rooms or pigeon coops, and the four-lane road that snakes through town rarely carries anything heavier than cyclists. Yet the locals welcome the hospital and schools, and big capital investments like the Fish Pond wastewater project.

Eating and drinking
kofta, with a few starters or desserts for around £E6-10 all in. They don't always have everything listed, but you can certainly fill your stomach. Besides the Gardens or Mebarez hotels, you can eat indoors at Anwar Paradise, or outdoors at the Abu Mohammed, Hamdy or, best of all, Ahmed Hamdy. For cheaper eats, go to the nameless café on New Mosque Square, which does chicken, stew, rice and salad for £E3-5. The Dakhla Café is good for playing dominoes and meeting people, or watching Arab films on TV. Stella is available from the shop beside the Anwar Paradise. There's a small fruit and vegetable market on Midan Tahrir.

Excursions
As many places are hard to reach, and it takes local knowledge of natural beauty spots to get the best from Dakhla, organized excursions kill two birds with one stone. Omar, Nasser and others all offer much the same locations, on day-trips, overnight or two-day safaris. Omar can arrange half-day trips either to the east or the west (£E40 for the car) or a full day-trip to both (£E80). Roughly speaking, half-day camel trips including one meal are £E50 per person and an overnight excursion with three meals is £E120. Nasser arranges overnight 4WD desert tours which cost £E350 for the vehicle including food.

Cranky local buses from New Mosque Square stop at villages en route to Al-Qasr or Teneida (50pt). They run to no specific timetable so it's a case of getting there and waiting. Some may be routed via Gedida instead of Budkhulu, so you should check with the driver. You can also use long-distance buses to reach outlying villages. In both cases, simply buy tickets on board.

Out of town it's always worth hitching if you're stuck somewhere. Although payment at pick-up rates is customary, you might get a free lift. If you're into cycling - feasible in wintertime - bicycles can be rented from the Abu Mohammed Restaurant (£E5) or the Gardens Hotel (£E7). You need to be fit, though, since visiting outlying villages will involve a round trip of at least 60km.

The energetic, conscientious Omar Ahmed flits between the new tourist office (tel 092/821-686), 300m west of Midan Tahrir, and the old office in the Tourist Resthouse on New Mosque Square (both daily 8am-2pm, and maybe 6-9pm). He also swears that you can contact him at home (tel 092/820-782) at other times. Besides Omar there are unofficial fixers like Nasser (who owns the Nasser Hotel in Sheikh Wali and whose brothers own the Ahmed Hamdy, Hamdy and Abu Mohammed restaurants) or the boss of Anwar Paradise Restaurant, who often approach visitors. All of them are useful sources of information, bearing in mind that they'll badmouth their rivals and try to persuade you to sign up for an excursion. Mut also has a conspicuously new State Information Office , which offers no help but is often mistaken for the tourist office.