[We have photos for this post, but our internet connection is so unstable that Blogspot times out before we can upload them. We're trying!]
Another day, another sunrise. I’ve seen more sunrises in three weeks in Eqypt than I’ve seen in the last five years combined. Although it varies from cool to cold here, the people still operate on the patterns of hot weather since it’s apparently hot here for most of the year. Which means that things start abnormally early (for me).
But I was a trooper and ready to head out the door at 5 am this morning. Again. We were met in the hotel lobby, hustled off to line of vans where passengers were mixed and matched, loaded on to boats to cross the river, treated to warm tea and date rolls, and then ferried across the Nile to the west bank again. For a hot air balloon trip over the pharaonic ruins at dawn.
There were easily a couple hundred riders gathered on the broad stretch of desert our van stopped in, and we got out of our van and watched the various crews inflate the balloons and load the passengers. It was soon our turn, and suddenly we were in the basket and drifting off into the air silently, except for occasional roars of flame from the gas burner that kept the air in our balloon warm. What an exhilarating experience! We floated between the Nile and Valley of the Kings, saw Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple in the distance, and drifted directly over the Medinat Habu, the memorial temple of Ramses III, and the Ramesseum, Ramses II’s memorial temple. The Captain of our balloon knew what he was doing, and he was careful to rotate the balloon at important sites so all 24 of us could get a good view from all our respective places in the balloon basket. He also lulled us into thinking we were landing just shy of a monastery before gunning up the heat and lifting us both above and away from the monks. We eventually noticed a couple of white pick-ups racing toward us across the desert as well as a bunch of kids on donkeys, and we landed gracefully on the desert almost before we knew it. It was a fabulous hour.
We were back at the hotel in time for breakfast and spent the day reading, napping and writing since this is, after all, a vacation. We finally rallied just before sunset and, since our hotel didn’t serve alcohol, set out in search of a martini in Luxor. The Winter Palace Hotel seemed like a place to start because it’s been on the Luxor tourist scene since its lavish opening in 1907. But just before we got there, we stumbled on a great bookshop right beside the hotel that had once been a photographer’s studio. We went in to browse books and look at period postcards and original negative prints of Egyptian ruins that the former owner and photographer had made. One book talked about the history of 19th century travel in Egypt and made so many references to things we’d seen and done that we bought two copies of it.
Then it was martini time and past, so we tried to look respectable and headed to the Winter Palace. What a gorgeous place with open Victorian spaces and decor……and an enormous Venetian glass chandelier in the lobby. One look at us, and the front desk waived the hotel bar minimum with some comment like it clearly not being necessary in our case. Out we went into the beautiful garden and sat down in the terrace bar for the best martini we’d found in Egypt.
And that was the day.
Another day, another sunrise. I’ve seen more sunrises in three weeks in Eqypt than I’ve seen in the last five years combined. Although it varies from cool to cold here, the people still operate on the patterns of hot weather since it’s apparently hot here for most of the year. Which means that things start abnormally early (for me).
But I was a trooper and ready to head out the door at 5 am this morning. Again. We were met in the hotel lobby, hustled off to line of vans where passengers were mixed and matched, loaded on to boats to cross the river, treated to warm tea and date rolls, and then ferried across the Nile to the west bank again. For a hot air balloon trip over the pharaonic ruins at dawn.
There were easily a couple hundred riders gathered on the broad stretch of desert our van stopped in, and we got out of our van and watched the various crews inflate the balloons and load the passengers. It was soon our turn, and suddenly we were in the basket and drifting off into the air silently, except for occasional roars of flame from the gas burner that kept the air in our balloon warm. What an exhilarating experience! We floated between the Nile and Valley of the Kings, saw Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple in the distance, and drifted directly over the Medinat Habu, the memorial temple of Ramses III, and the Ramesseum, Ramses II’s memorial temple. The Captain of our balloon knew what he was doing, and he was careful to rotate the balloon at important sites so all 24 of us could get a good view from all our respective places in the balloon basket. He also lulled us into thinking we were landing just shy of a monastery before gunning up the heat and lifting us both above and away from the monks. We eventually noticed a couple of white pick-ups racing toward us across the desert as well as a bunch of kids on donkeys, and we landed gracefully on the desert almost before we knew it. It was a fabulous hour.
We were back at the hotel in time for breakfast and spent the day reading, napping and writing since this is, after all, a vacation. We finally rallied just before sunset and, since our hotel didn’t serve alcohol, set out in search of a martini in Luxor. The Winter Palace Hotel seemed like a place to start because it’s been on the Luxor tourist scene since its lavish opening in 1907. But just before we got there, we stumbled on a great bookshop right beside the hotel that had once been a photographer’s studio. We went in to browse books and look at period postcards and original negative prints of Egyptian ruins that the former owner and photographer had made. One book talked about the history of 19th century travel in Egypt and made so many references to things we’d seen and done that we bought two copies of it.
Then it was martini time and past, so we tried to look respectable and headed to the Winter Palace. What a gorgeous place with open Victorian spaces and decor……and an enormous Venetian glass chandelier in the lobby. One look at us, and the front desk waived the hotel bar minimum with some comment like it clearly not being necessary in our case. Out we went into the beautiful garden and sat down in the terrace bar for the best martini we’d found in Egypt.
And that was the day.
wow! i didn't know a hot air balloon ride was in the offing! were 24 of you in one basket? the one i went up in this summer could have held 4 along with the captain, but there were only 3 of us. bet you got some wonderful pix in that hour!!! i rank my flight as the third most exciting thing i've ever done,ranking behind giving birth and my first open water scuba dive....
ReplyDeletebut what a trip you have had!!! 12/22 post came through, and the others will in time.
lou, today's nytimes sunday xword puzzle had many duplicate clues. "legendary egyptian queen". nefertiti and cleopatra. wish the others had been as easy!
how in the world are you ever going to top this trip? roger, i have an idea you will do it!! :-)))
marty