About four hours by plane from Germany, Egypt on the Red Sea offers an escape from the cold, wet winter: a shimmering turquoise sea, coral reefs with colorful fish, plus a pool and buffet at the hotel—do you really need a trip to the desert?

Those who book a beach vacation in Egypt on the Red Sea usually spend their days basking in the sun between the beach and the pool. But a day trip to the desert is well worth it: cheerful Bedouins conjure up a well-organized Oriental magic in the sea of sand for their guests from Europe. A field report.
The driver Abdul races across the sandy track. His Jeep leaves a meter-long cloud of dust behind it. He skillfully avoids large rocks, drifts smoothly over dunes, and continues deeper into the Arabian Desert west of Hurghada. The six tourists in the back of the truck, who have booked a day trip from the Red Sea beach to the Bedouin camp Umm Aqira, are thrilled. They all take videos and photos of the fascinating landscape that belongs to Wadi al-Gamal National Park: a bright sea of sand stretches to the horizon, not a tree or bush in sight, and even in the winter months, the air shimmers with heat. Everyone cheers when the four-wheel drive vehicle seems to fly over the bumps in the road. Arabic music with booming rave beats blares from the car speakers – the mood in the vehicle is exuberant.

Just under an hour later, the sandy track winds its way towards mighty mountains. They are part of a rugged mountain range that stretches across the approximately 22,000 square kilometers of the Arabian Desert between the Nile and the Red Sea north of Lake Nasser. The surrounding peaks rise impressively into the sky. The highest is the 2,187-meter-high Gebel Shayib al-Banat southwest of Hurghada.

Abdul now drives into a gorge between the mighty, towering rocks, at the end of which, at the foot of the mountains, lies Camp Umm Aqira. Tents with colorful cushions and small tables are grouped around a large square. A group of tourists rushes past on quad bikes. The Arab Bedouins who run the camp and live here are descended from nomads. For visitors, they stage an insight into their ancient, traditional ways of life, which they themselves only live in part. The tourist business is too lucrative to rely solely on cattle breeding.

Dancing, music, henna painting, drinking tea, and wrapping turbans are just as much a part of it as presenting the camels and the desert tour by quad bike. The approximately 200 guests who booked the trip stream into the tents. The women have intricate ornamental garlands painted on their hands with henna. Tea and sweets are served. Almost everyone has a Bedouin wrap a turban around their head and slip on an Arab robe. Dressed up like this, they dance together to the music before the highlight of the evening – a Bedouin wedding. The staging resembles a festive, colorful parade: while the bride is brought in on a camel sitting under a canopy, the groom waits for her in the crowd, accompanied by the high, wailing songs of the women. As the couple disappears into one of the tents, only to reappear shortly afterwards laughing, the rest of the desert dwellers are clearly also enjoying their own performance. But as quickly as the crowd formed, it disperses again and the dozen or so camels are led away. The Bedouin magic is over and, as darkness falls, the tourists return to the coast in a jeep under a sparkling starry sky.