Originally I was going to title this post “Up, Up, And Away In My Beautiful Balloon” but as our balloon ride was happening the same time as the China Balloon Virus was THE story, I had to go with the more aggressive song.
We walked to the river from the hotel in the dark, boarded a boat, and cruised across to the West Bank of the Nile. (In Egypt, you can write “the river” and there’s really only one.) We then hopped in larger minivans. We had to wait a bit while all the other vans caught up, as the military wants everyone to travel together.
As they were blowing up the balloons – always a cool process, the dawn was breaking. As I was waiting to get into the balloon, I was advised to discretely hand Sam my camera. After I was in the basket, Sam passed it to someone standing near me, who passed it to me. I then held it below the basket so the security guy couldn’t see it. Apparently the military does not like folks using Zoom lenses in that area from above.
As I’m not as good at balloon espionage as the ChiComs, I was in no danger of photographing military trade secrets. I did get a good picture of three donkeys however, and if an aerial photo of guys clearing sugar cane fields by burning the roots is stealing military secrets, I’m guilty and will miss you all dearly!
As we rose, the sun was coming up in the east over the mountains.
Editor: The sun rose in the East you say? Such a helpful detail. Writer: Details matter, even if they are unnecessary.
Alas, I didn’t get a great photo of the sunrise, but I got plenty of good photos. The best view is of the Temple of Hatshetsut, as well as various and sundry other temples still being excavated.
It really was not chilly at all. Our pilot both made the usual hot air balloon jokes and steered it such that the basket spun slowly, so you had excellent views in all direction. Even those who expressed concern about heights enjoyed the ride, as the basket is plenty high enough that there is no danger of falling out.
The landing was quite cool, as we flew quite close to an old temple still being excavated and then touched down, with some bounces before being fully tied down. Watching them bring in the balloon is always fascinating, although not as much as watching them fill the balloon through the release of the fire.
If you are in Luxor and want a balloon ride, we used King Tut Ballooning, which means we were the funkiest balloon in the sky that morning.
Editor: Another Steve Martin King Tut reference? Writer: It’s in the Blogger’s Rule book. Anytime you blog a King Tut reference, you need to make an overt or oblique reference to Steve Martin’s 1978 classic or you automatically forfeit your Blogger’s Union card.
As far as I know, we did not cause the scramble of 99 knights of the air, ride super high-tech jet fighters, and nor did photos of our balloon go viral on the internet.
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