Luxor and a Tout Rant

After a 10 hour train ride into the Nile Valley I found myself in the historically rich city of Luxor. Often referred to as one of the world's greatest open air musuems, Luxor possesses the tombs, temples, and knowledgeable guides to back up this claim. The ruins draw the archeologically addicted as well as adventurous families, making it a hub for international tourism for the last 200 years. Where there are tourists, inevitably, there are "touts." You know, the overly friendly locals employing age-old gimmicks to try and get you to see and buy their wares. They're everywhere and they're unavoidable--hell, they were even in the Amazon! Anyways, here in Luxor they have their schtick down to a science. It typically starts (about every 2 minutes) with the soon-to-be antagonizer politely welcoming you to Egypt and following up with a "where are you from." And it continues on to "come to my shop for a welcoming drink," "my family's store is having a sale today," "special price for you my friend." My friend this, my friend that. I have not been this popular since I started giving my friends tours of the girl's bathroom in 3rd grade. The tout's whole routine played out over 100 times a day is mentally grating and exhausting. One must find ways to deal with this before things boil over and you end up slugging one of these guys, who are just trying to make a living--albeit a very annoying one.

For me, its the lying game. For many years I operated under the false knowledge that honesty is the best policy. Not until later in life did I realize that whoever made up the phrase was a moron. Either that or she forgot to leave the ending in most cases. Yes, you noticed I used she, I was just speculating. Anyways, these frequent and routinized encounters provide opportunity for otherwise Honest Brian to try out his lying chops. New name, new birthplace, new story, whatever. After one particularly brutal stroll down a tourist market, I was running low on an alreadly underequipped patience ability, when I tried to abrubtly halt the barrage by telling the obvious lie that I was Brian from Japan. While I was smiling at my clever cynicism, the young tout started speaking to me in Japanese. Touche. A wise friend once told me that when encountering the solicitous type on the street that the best defense is a good offense--"Can I have a dollar?; do You want to buy this backpack?" Not purposely, I have also found that I am hassled less when I put my shades on. Nothing screams "this boy doesn't spend money on himself" like my BluBlocker shades.

Today I toured the Valley of the Kings, which is the location of the burial chambers of many of Egypts famous Pharaohs--the Ramses, King Tut, etc. Surrounded by an enclosing barren and arid mountainside, it is not hard to picture life as it was thousands of years ago. Protected by the absence of humidity, the heiroglyphic lined chambers provide all the evidence you need for realizing your small place in the history of the world.

Also visited the Tomb of Hapshetsut, which is considered one of Egypt's "must-see" monuments. I did not think it was all that great although I was more intrigued by its recent notoriety-- almost 11 years ago, 6 fundalmentalist hoping to cripple Egypt's tourism market (they briefly did), methodically shot and butcherknifed 60 unsuspecting tourists. Google the news--its scary. And don't worry, there are alot more sleeping police on site.

More ruins tomorrow and then a move,

Tom from Sudan