Floating off into the Air

With nearly no tourists in Luxor the price of hot air balloon rides has plummeted. I managed to score a deal for EGP220 (NZD37) by booking at the Bob Marley Peace Hostel rather than my hotel. I was picked up by van at 0500 and dropped off at the river bank for a ferry ride across to the West Bank where another van took us to the launchpad.

There, we were briefed on our landing positions, a somewhat squatting pose (emphasis on having bent knees) facing opposite to the direction of travel holding on to the ropes in the basket.

I got talking to this British guy who has lived around the world. He spoke fluent Arabic and is cycling from Alexandria to Capetown. And he’s wearing a immaculately pressed collared shirt today, despite his difficult journey.  What an amazing but polite soft-spoken character!

We were afloat by 0600 and quietly made our way past the Hapshepsut Temple then close o the Nile. We landed about 40 minutes later in a clearing between sugar cane plots. As the Captain anticipated a very soft landing, we were allowed to come out from our landing positions to have a better view of the touchdown.

It was a very beautiful 40 minutes and worth every single one of the NZD37 I had spent!

[Edit: The going rate of the hot air ballon ride was many times more than what I had paid. It was ten years later while chatting about balloon rides and insurances in general that I clicked: Could it be that my ride was cheap because I was uninsured, compared to tickets bought through other channels?]

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I was back to the hotel in no time for breakfast. The Malaysian family I had spoken to last night wanted to go to the Karnak Temple. Actually, only the two kids (in their twenties) wanted to go but not the parents. We teamed up and took a taxi from outside the hotel and wandered around for about 90 minutes there. We finished just as the Russian tourists from the Red Sea resorts arrived.

Having decided to stay a little longer in Luxor, there was no pressure for me to do much. I’m finally having my rest and relaxation. Most of the day in the room, in bed or on the wifi on the rooftop restaurant. Yippee!