Nile Cruise Day Three

The Valley of the Kings houses the tomb of Tut Ankh Amun. The tomb of Tut Ankh Amun houses an utter cock of an Egyptian guard who greets every single tourist (of whom an extra 100LE has been requested for the privilege) with a stupid grin before shouting "Chinese?" over and over and over again to which the baffled faces would respond with polite laughter and whatever witty answer they could muster so as (rather ironically) not to offend. You'll be glad to hear I responded by giving him my best 'You are an utter wanker - SHUT UP.' look, which shut the idiot up for a second or two.

It really does spoil the mystery of the place. You have been warned.

Afterwards, the trip to an alabaster shop saw the usual cringe-worthy show of a craftsman in the middle of his work (these particular hands belonged to a man so bemused by the instructions he was receiving that he didn't know whether to pretend to file the rock or keep quiet, resulting in a pitifully bewildered expression) followed by a forced tour around all the  hideously expensive souvenirs. This ridiculous farce is mostly the fault of the government for taking back-handers in exchange for 'recommending' that tour operators bring tourists to 'certain' shops. The shops only get to keep 30% of the final sale, which explains the exorbitant prices.

The tourism industry in this part of the world is utterly corrupt.