Desert camp

The first raindrops started to fall and Abdul rounded us up to continue to the camp we'd stay at tonight. At first, we walked into the wrong one though - people were swarming in from all directions, walking down a pathway toward a disco tent blasting music into the desert, past the welcome station with tea and cookies.

Someone was flying a drone over the crowd, everyone was hyped up, and it all felt somewhat surreal. Maybe I've seen too many horror movies but in my mind's eye this was the opening scene of some teenage slasher movie that starts out with everyone ready to party all night long while danger lurks in the desert to pick them all off one by one as the storm rolls in...

When we didn't find our bags at the dropoff point we were told we had come to the wrong camp and were directed to the correct one behind the next dune - and we were kind of relieved, as the tents looked much nicer and more comfy. And if we did feel like partying, we'd know where to go.

We were served a traditional dinner accompanied by a drum circle (instead of the dancing show that had to be cancelled due to the pouring rain). Breakfast the next day was scheduled for before sunrise, so I went to sleep at about 11 PM to the gentle and relaxing patter of raindrops on the tent's tarp, hoping that by morning the clouds would have given way to some stars.Read more