Downtown El gouna

This guide to Downtown El Gouna traces how a young Egyptian entrepreneur named Samih Sawiris set out in 1989 to build a few private beach houses on empty desert coastline north of Hurghada, and the practical problem, twenty five kilometers from the nearest shop or hospital, that forced the plan to grow into something else entirely. It follows the town's Nubian-style domes and arches around Tamr Henna square, built to feel like a real village rather than a resort, and the daily rhythm of shops, cafes and nightly folk music that fills the square today.