Egypt: Balloon Ride

The tour company offered a sunrise balloon ride over Luxor and the Valley of the Kings for an eye watering EGP600. So, T & E checked out the tour companies lining one of Luxor's streets and found the same package for only EGP250. I wondered what would be missing but was convinced by those 2 to sign up.

We woke at 4:30am and were waiting in the hotel reception at 5am. There were people from the tour group waiting for the official balloon ride pickup there, also. We were picked up about 15 min later and taken on a 1 min bus ride to the Nile, whereupon we had a coffee and a cake for breakfast. Then we had a 1 min crossing across the Nile and got into another bus to get to the balloon launchsite. We arrived around 6am. We were in a patch of earth, surrounded by about 4 other balloons being lit up by orange glows from the gas burners. Each balloon was tied with a rope to a minivan to stop it taking off prematurely. One of them had members of the official tour company booking.

The 4 balloons took off but we were still waiting. We had to get airborne soon as sunrise was at 6:30am. At 6:20am, we climbed into the basket at the bottom of our balloon and it was then inflated. We took off 5 minutes later.

We ascended to 1600 ft and could see the fields and farms of Luxor. We could also see Hatchepsut's Temple and the Valley of the Kings. In the distance, the rising sun illuminated the mountains with a yellow tinge. There were about 10 other balloons around us, both above & below.

The intense heat over the burners singed a passenger's hairspray and I had to shield my camera to protect it. Someone else's ears popped as we drifted higher.

After 45 min, it was time to land. Our pilot told us we might have a soft landing, which would be an Egyptian one or a rough one, which would be an American one. We got into our brace positions by grabbing onto the internal rope handles and squatting.

As we hit the ground, we were dragged along it for a while but slowed as the ground grew grabbed onto the balloon. We clambered out of the balloon just before new passengers got in. We travelled back to the hotel by minivan and boat and got a t-shirt, as well.

Egypt: Valley of the Kings & Hatchepsut Temple

Today, we went to the Valley of the Kings. I explored the tombs of Tut Moses 3. After a long climb up steps and down steps into a boiling cave, I came across hieroglyphics, that looked as if they had been drawn on stone with felt-tip pens. The tomb of Sety 2 was more impressive. The hieroglyphics were carved on the walls and their original colours of red and blue could still be seen. There was a mirror beneath the sarcophagus, which showed the statue on the bottom of the sarcohagus lid.

Then, we went to Hatchepsut Temple's. This was a few minutes drive from the Valley of the Kings and was in resonable condition. Queen Hatchepsut built the temple and pretended to be a man by wearing a beard. She claimed to be the offspring of a god and was both male and female. However, during her son's reign, he destroyed part of his mother's temple.

We also went donkey riding. It seemed I was on the verge of falling off but I managed to stay on. The donkeys liked overtaking and undertaking each other and squeezing into non-existent gaps left by their friends. I learnt that pulling on the right rope could make the animal go right. However, stopping was beyond it. Fortunately, the owners stopped the donkeys with a shout. It was fun, once I got used to having my legs splayed out wide.

In the afternoon, I and 2 others booked a balloon trip over Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. Our tour company wanted EGP600 but we found a company in town charing only EGP250. I know our tour company makes a profit but to charge more than double is ridiculous. We will be flying tomorrow. Let's hope we don't come down with a bang on a budget.