This is not how the young Swiss couple imagined their desert trip: on their way to Timbuktu, they break down and are stranded in the Algerian desert of Tar. Oliver is more concerned with the broken truck than with Elena, so she explores the oasis alone. There she meets two women: a mysterious fortune teller and the young Aya. And then there is Saïd's small public telephone exchange, which connects Tar with the outside world. While Elena discovers a new world, Oliver wants to end the trip as soon as possible.