I live at the extreme northeastern edge of Egypt. Sinai has natural beauty to spare. Just mountains, the Red Sea, and silence. I adore my home, but ancient ruins? Not in my backyard.

In central Egypt, where the pyramids loom, everything old has been carefully wrapped in velvet ropes and ticket booths. The ancient world there is preserved, protected, explained… and aggressively strangled by tour guides and souvenir stalls.

But now my wife and I are wandering the Egyptian south, and here, history is just there. You can wander around and find it, touch it, take a nap in it, whatever you like.