Luxor, Egypt

I thought I had woken up early enough to best the heat but the door opened to a sweltering degree as I opened the door. I made peace with the fact that I was going to be sweating no matter what I did today and that today was the day for seeing tombs of the west bank. I ate breakfast hastily and hired a £20 bike for the day. I set out with a vigor eager to hit the inclines before the heat of the day set in. First stop, Valley of the Kings. I bypassed the the tombs and took to the ridge. A baksheesh man, clad in traditional egyptian robes and a headscarf stood halfway up the hill. His game was to restrict you to the defined boundaries of the facility but you could walk up to the vantage point for a price. This one happened to be worthwhile as I crested the hill, I had a panorama of the valley. I could see farms patched together like a big green quilt folding into the Nile in the center. Looking back down the hill I surveyed the white salt mountains jutting out into the brilliant blur sky. Directly across the chasm, a pyramid shaped mountain and sacred symbol of Egyptian life; the familiar shape explaned why they chose this as their hallowed burial ground. Souls would making their journey into the afterlife across the Nile from the East bank to the West bank.

I wound my way down slowly while admiring the white Martian shale surface. I arrived at one of the lesser toured tombs, it was no less splendid. A plexiglass casing framed the walls and a wooden walkway protruded from the center. Elaborate hieroglyphs Dr orated the walls, their colors still partially intact. A baksheesh man lay sideways in the hall. He stood up, official ticket puncher in hand. I laughed at the corrupt notion of having the guys who try to steal your money, legitimately running security and admittance for the tombs.

I went into the tombs and began to document the tombs, out of sight of the man. I had managed to pass off my phone as an iPod. Upon my return the man asked to see the photos in my camera, I obliged him knowing full well where this was going. He explained to me that it was disrespectful to the spirit that had passed on and that it hurt Egypt's tourist industry. He said that I could be fined up to £200. I called bullshit and proceeded the charade of wanting the authorities to sort it out. Finally, I struck a deal with him, I'd hide him for £50 as ransom for my photos.