Bedouin Tea in Wadi Gnai

The fire was small, just a few dry branches from a desert scrub, but its light transformed the granite walls of Wadi Gnai into towering silhouettes of orange and shadow. We had left the town lights of Dahab behind an hour ago, driving deep into the valley where the only sound was the wind whispering through the palms.

Ahmed, our guide, adjusted a soot-blackened kettle on the embers. He didn't use a timer or a thermometer; he just knew the rhythm of the boil. When it was ready, he poured the tea from a height, a dark amber stream that smelled of sage and sugar.

"Dahab tea is for the heart," he said, handing me a small glass. "In the town, people drink coffee to move fast. In the desert, we drink tea to stay still." Looking up, the Milky Way was so bright it felt close enough to touch. In that moment, the sugar and the smoke and the stars made perfect sense.