Between July to September, during the hottest months of the year when temperature hovers around 37 degrees in the shade, people from all over Egypt and elsewhere flock to the desert oasis town of Siwa in the Libyan desert in western Egypt to take turns at being immersed in scalding hot sand for up to 15 minutes at a time. Local doctors, as well as those who underwent the treatment, claim that just three to five days of regular sand bathing can cure sufferers from rheumatism and arthritis, and even infertility or impotence.

Sand bathing is a traditional treatment developed by the Berbers of this isolated settlement near Dakrror Mountain, about 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo.

A patient buried in the hot sand looks out from under a shade that protects his face from the sun in Siwa, Egypt. Photo credit: Reuters