ONCE the breadbasket of the Roman Empire, Fayoum's beauty has many sides, as Mohamed El-Hebeishy discovers. Known as the largest oasis in Egypt, Fayoum is as green as it gets thanks to the Nile. The veering channel of Bahr Youssef gives Fayoum indirect access to the longest river in the world which literally paints the desert green. Turn your eyes anywhere and they will encounter nothing but the soothing colour. Strolling in the fields of Fayoum not only clears the mind of day-to-day worries brought on by city life but provides a unique opportunity to enjoy nature at its finest. When the Romans called Fayoum, with Arsino� as its capital, the breadbasket of their ancient empire, corn and olives, Fayoum's main crops, were being loaded by the ton at the Port of Dimah, and shipped across the Mediterranean to Rome. The ships are long gone but the remains of the ghost city of Dimah are not. It was originally built as a port on the northern shores of Lake Moeris (shrunk today to what is better known as Lake Qarun). It is accessible by four-wheel drives coming from the industrial quarry area. Fayoum hosts two natural protectorates: Lake Qarun and Wadi Al-Rayan. The first, the remaining part of Lake Moeris, contains an extraordinary diversified collection of fossils that date back a staggering 40 million years. Wadi Al-Rayan is characterised by its integrated desert environment, from natural springs to sand dunes, from waterfalls to deep canyons. The variety helped qualify the area a natural habitat for a number of endangered species including the white and Egyptian gazelle, deer and falcon. Less than a two-hour drive from Cairo, Fayoum represents an ideal one-day excursion on a lovely spring day.
