Beyond the date palms in every direction stretches the gravel and sand of the Libyan Desert, one of the driest parts of the Sahara. The terrain is mostly flat serir — wind-polished stone — broken by occasional dunes and the low ridges that gave camel caravans their bearings. To the south the land slowly rises toward the Idehan Murzuq sand sea; to the east, the road eventually reaches the remote oases of Kufra some 700 km away.
A short drive out of the oasis at sunrise or sunset is reason enough to come to Awjila. The light at low angles makes the desert glow, and the silence is something city dwellers rarely experience. Do not strike out on your own — this is genuine, unforgiving Sahara, and even short trips need a four-wheel-drive, plenty of water and ideally a local driver who knows where the soft sand is. Local oil-company tracks crisscross the area but are unmarked and unmapped.