10-days Battutta

The first time I visited Shalatin was astonishing. Due to a very complicated historical context, Shalatin - that small city that lies on far south of the Red Sea in Egypt - is an Egyptian diaspora. It was always not understandable for an urban educated middle class youth like me: Shalatin is almost out of Egypt, a place we never knew any details about. It was like the modern historical discourse of Egypt doesn't recognize Shalatin as a part of it.
Interestingly enough, I decided to give it a visit. For two weeks, I stayed for a closer look to the society there. Demographically, it's a very interesting town. Small communities of Upper Egypt's workers, immigrating Sudanese, tribes that originate from the Saudi desert and Yemen, villages that are shattered around Shalatin in desert and between mountains.
Beside the incredible sea meals, fishing, swimming, there are also cultures. A tiny melting pot with a spectrum that contained several cultures of Bedouins, Sudanese, average Egyptian middle class bureaucratic employees, etc.
Lacking infrastructure and basic services, Shalatin is a town with colorful desert clothing styles and a very tough environment. Drinking their ginger-flavored coffee - they call it Gabana - that is prepared in their local utensils is an experience worth having. Sociologically and culturally speaking, the whole town was an experience worth having.