Luxor

Today was a really early start as we headed out for a hot air ballon ride. Our departure time was 3:35 am. Ouch. Not a talkative group at that hour in the AM. It seemed like a trains,planes and automobiles trip to get to the departure point. First a van to a boat for a 20 min ride across the Nile to the West Bank. We were served coffee and believe it or not, Twinkies.

They say it is amazing what we will do on vacation that we wouldn’t do at home. It is still dark, the current on the Nile is extremely strong, who knows what animals lurk in the water and we have no instructions as to where are the life jackets. 250 or more crazy tourists. Following the boat ride is another van ride, this one with a police escort.

We arrived to the balloon pad and watched as they filled each balloon

and headed off. We climbed aboard ours, a total of 24 of us in one basket with a captain and helper.

Up, up and away we soared away just as the sun broke over the mountains. What an amazing experience. We were up about 45 mins and soared over the Valley of the Kings, getting a unique perspective of the Temples and tombs.

Our landing was a smooth one, thank goodness. We had landed in

the middle of the desert and yet were instantly surrounded by kids, on foot or on donkeys, that were looking for handouts. We have learned not to acknowledge them, as sad and hard as it is.

Our next stop, and it is only 7 AM, is the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings is the 3rd most important tourist site in Egypt. At some point, the Kings decided it was really difficult to build pyramids and the mountains at the Valley of the Kings are shaped at the top like a pyramid. So they started burying the Kings there. The Valley of the Kings is in the City of the Dead on the West Bank of the Nile. There is also the Valley of the Queens, the Valley of the Priests and the Valley of the Workers. The East Bank of the Nile was called the City of the Living.

They have found 64 tombs in the Valley of the Kings but only 17 are open to the public and not all are open each day. Our tickets gave us access to 3 tombs.

It is hard to describe what the tombs are like. They are ornately carved with the most amazing hieroglyphics and they are huge. There are rooms off each side of the main corridor which were used to the store the items that are being buried with the Kings. Truly

incredible to see.

The Valley of the Kings is where King Tut’s tomb was discovered.

We had 3 more stops, an alabaster stone store where we learned how they make alabaster, the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut and then to Habu Temple.

We were back around noon and spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep and trying to stay cool in the pool.

Our cruise boat left Luxor today to sail the Nile. It is a very quiet and peaceful sailing on our way to Edfu. The Nile is not very wide and you see homes/towns etc. all the way along. Also lots of kids swimming along the shores even though the river is polluted.