Libya's vast stone and sand deserts, its steep mountain ranges and legendary oasis towns stand in fascinating contrast to the Mediterranean coast, which since ancient times is a focal point of history: Phoenicians, Romans and Turks left their traces at the "Gateway to Africa", the starting point for caravans heading into the black continent. Today, the "Great Socialist Libyan-Arabic People's Jamahirya" is a terra incognita; one of the worlds last. For a long time Libya's attitude towards the West had been hostile. And Ghaddafi's bizarre politics gave the country a dark image. Additionally, the desert state was isolated even more by the UN-Embargo, only recently lifted. Lately, almost unnoticed by the outside world Libya has become more placid, and has recently started to open up to the western world. Along Mekong Productions managed to receive the first permission to shoot a truly comprehensive cultural documentation on this extraordinary country between the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea.

There is for instance Ahmed Grera, a camel trader, running his business in the suburbs of the modern city of Tripoli. Or Moussa Gadr, a modern "part-time" nomad, who follows his herd with his water truck through the Red Hamada desert, but also spends part of the year in a modern house in a newly constructed village. Ibrahim Hassan is a descendant of a dynasty of caravan traders. He lives in the legendary oasis town of Ghadames, where until well into the 20th century five famous caravan routes met. But like the other inhabitants Ibrahim has abandoned the old mud and brick town and moved to comfortable new Ghadames, built by the socialist government. One of the mysteries of the Libyan Sahara are the wandering desert lakes of Mandara, which appear and disappear. Abdul Uwahab, roaming the Sahara since childhood, knows many stories about them. Extraordinary activities are to be found in other parts of the desert: Industrial water drilling for example. It is fossil water, concealed deep under the surface of the desert, it shall feed the so-called "Great Man Made River", a controversial project and the worlds largest in civil engineering. As a fashion designer Rabia ben Barka creates tight trousers from traditional material and has introduced modelling into the socialist Islamic country.