Visiting Upper Egypt and Red Sea coast during the pandemic offered a unique traveller experience of exploring this ancient land deserted by the masses of usual Western tourists. We were in Egypt for over a week winding our way slowly back to the UK in January 2021. Like so many tourist destinations in our post-pandemic world of now, the city of Luxor, Egypt's ancient capital over river Nile, despite its incomparable trove of archaeological wonders, was almost empty. There were very few tour buses, and the Karnak complex, Valley of the Kings and Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut were easily accessible to explore, photograph and reflect upon their thousands years of history. Yet travelling from the Nile valley to the Red Sea coast offered us a chance to see real Egypt, often underdeveloped and covered by the desert sand.