How much does it cost?
You can't go anywhere with Leonard without hearing those five words! He's known to be quite the cheapskate back home, but I can usually get him to splurge a little when we travel. We both want to experience as much as possible on these trips.....and, it's no secret, nothing is cheap (except beer on the cruise ship!).
A hot air balloon ride was not even an option heading into this Egypt trip. One of the couples in our tour group happened to mention this activity when we arrived in Luxor. The Trafalgar tour company once again discourages activities like these due to safety concerns.....but our tour guide wound up offering to book a sunrise balloon ride over The Valley of Kings for anyone who was interested.
This was something Jenesa and I actually debated, because we had spent a lot of money on a balloon ride during a previous trip to the Australian outback....and it was a little disappointing.
The Valley of the Kings is located on the west bank of the Nile River near Luxor. It is the most famous site for having unique collections of tombs and ancient ruins.....not to mention the fertile green Nile valley farmland surrounding it. Our tour group would be visiting the tombs and ancient attractions later this morning, but this opportunity might be worth the splurge to see it all from above.
OK! Sign us up!
Another early morning wakeup call at 4am got us transported to the hot air balloon launch site for our sunrise adventure. What made this excursion so memorable was the fact we weren't the only hot air balloon in the sky. There were almost twenty other balloons getting ready to launch all around us! If you look carefully you can see what else was in the sky when our balloon launched......the moon! But it wouldn't be long before we would see the sun rise to the east of the Nile River.
Leonard was already looking for a safe place to land!
This wasn't an airplane....and, by the looks of it, we wouldn't be landing this balloon back on the launch pad. As the other balloons began their descent, it appeared we would try to get as close as possible to the initial launch pad while ultimately touching down in the surrounding fields away from the other balloons. Good plan!
Mission accomplished! This was one experience that we both really enjoyed.....and would highly recommend the Trafalgar tour company offer as a option in the future. It's these kinds of activities that help break up the monotonous day-to-day history lessons, guided tours, and "leisure time" included in every tour company's itinerary. We're only 49 years old.....we need a little excitement in these tours to keep us going!
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