Day 119/120 – Luxor, Hot Air Balloon
Monday, May 21st, 2007We sailed some more up the river then grabbed a minivan to join the convoy to the city of Luxor. We checked out Karnak temple, the markets, the oil and perfume making, natural alabaster, all sorts of egyptian stuff. We took a horse and carriage to dinner just to add to our transportation list.
Another early start, a minivan picked me up and stopped along the way to grab the pilot who would captain our hot air balloon over the Valley of the Kings. We used a ferry to cross the Nile and then watched as they readied our baloon. We climbed in, about 4 people on each side of a basket and 8 people to a side for a totoal of 32. The Captain was in the middle and turns out the owner of the company. Very safety concious and competent bloke from what I gether which was good considering I was about to risk my life with him. This was my first time in one and I was thrilled. We lifted off smoothly and started ascending over the area. There are over 30 temples ytou can see fomr the air and it was phenomenal. I also got an unexpected view of life in Egypt that I never would have realized from any other craft except this one. As we flew low at one point over some houses I realized, many of them do not even have roofs. There were 2 or 3 beds in the mud courtyards with 2 or 3 people in them each. I can not imagine waking up at 0600 in the morning to the whooshing sound of fire filling the balloon with 32 tourists staring down at you and all of your loved ones in bed. It was incredibly odd. The situation was not improved by our Egyptian Captain calling out in a haughty english accent…”would you pleazzze put on the kettle for a cup of tea!”. I felt like Alice in wonderland with these tiny people in a bed, in the dirt, staring up at me.
We landed safely in a hayfield next to workers collecting the grass and the Captain insisted on a ‘landing safely celebration’. The drums cames out, all the balloon handler people started singing and then all the women were pulled in to dance. So there we were singing, dancing chanign partners even, in a hayfield at 0700 in morning with donkeys and locals onlooking, as a hot air balloon deflated behind us. Wow. Can not even describe how wierd that whole thing was. My theory is these guys with their culture under normal circumstances are not allowed to get that close to women never mind dance! but hey it was memorable.
We met up with the rest of our group, saw the colossi,Habu temple and then climbed inside some tombs where all the Pharoahs were buried. These chambers are just crazy. Decorated from floor to ceiling and carved from solid rock, they are a testament to the next life they were preparing for.
That afternoon, we went for lunch at a family’s house in a small village. The food was great and plentiful. Eveyone else in my group got sick from some other meal but since I stuck to kebabs and hummus most of the time, I was OK. They had tried a stew type dish filled with questionable meat – ‘unidentifiable food’ (as Nancy calls it). I had opted out which turned out to be a good decision. Pigeon was also a local speciality but again, exotic foods are one of those things I do not have FOMO for!
It was incredibly interesting to talk with the three daughters in the family and see how they live. This family owns a business in the area and I would guess they are considered well-off and yet their lifestyle is basic. I was completely blown away with the mud brick oven on the roof they use to bake their bread! They prepare the dough, half bake it by laying it on the roof in the scorching sun and then fire up the over in the 39 degree heat for breakfast and lunch! It was madness. In the 21 century, people using the sun and mud ovens for bread. Wow.
Sent the rest of the day milling about town buying rocks. Yep, lots of neat rocks here as well and we boarded the train at 2130 for another overnighter to Cairo…I think this tops my mode transportation in one day list covering all surfaces – train, van, boat, balloon!
dunlewey