Egypt: Day 5, Hot Air Balloon

I did not sleep well the night before our hot air balloon ride, as I was worried we would miss our 5AM wake-up call.  We were taken in the Nesma's trusty little motorboat in the dark to the nearby "dock" (just crash the boat into the rocks and cement and you're docked!).  We had to wait a minute because there was a row of people doing their morning prayers toward Mecca at the top of the steps to the street.  A minivan came soon thereafter to pick us up.  It was still dark and we were taken down a dirt road, behind some houses (thinking, "WHERE is he taking us??) The driver dropped us at the local "haunt" and said to wait five minutes.

Imagine this scene: not yet 6AM.  Dark.  Dirty.  The place was a cafe/water pipe smokehouse and was pretty ratty. It was also full of about 15 Egyptian men (not a single woman besides me), many of whom were in the local dress (literally, a dress). Most of them were smoking.  They were all watching some old Egyptian movie that involved various men peeping at the silhouette of a woman who was changing clothes behind a curtain.  Reminder: I was the only woman in the place.

It was all very strange and surreal.  I noticed Sweetie smile at one of the men who walked in, trying to be friendly and act like it wasn't the completely weirdest thing in the world that we were sitting there, but the guy smiled back and then looked at me.  All I could think was that Sweetie's smile might have meant "She's yours for a price" in the local body language.

I have to honestly say that I have never been anywhere that felt more different from what I am used to.  The traditional dress of Egyptian men really just added a dimension that you wouldn't get in say, South America.

Well, finally, we met up with hordes of tourists who came over from the ugly big cruise boats on the opposite bank of the Nile.  The launch site was literally right next to the mortuary temple of Rameses II (somehow I think launching hot air balloons from next to 3,000 historic ruins would not be allowed in most countries).  As soon as we arrived, the huge crew piled us into the gigantic basket (room for 32 people) and we were up, up, and away as the pilot gave Sweetie and me an impromptu safety briefing while aiming bursts of flames into the balloon.  Apparently, all others had their safety briefings on their cruise ships.  This then also explained why we were asked to enter a compartment in the basket that was right next to the pilot.  I ducked every time he fired that thing.  I don't know how my hair didn't go up in flames.

Anyway, I was exceedingly nervous the entire ride given that the only other time I was in a hot air balloon, WE CRASHED.  

The pilot, to his credit, did a great job of directing us over scenic areas of the  Valley of the Kings and Queen Hatshepshut's Temple.  Also, sunrise over the Nile was gorgeous.  

The landing involved us skirting the rocky desert floor while the crew of about 20 men raced through the desert on foot until they reached us, at which point they all grabbed hold and dragged the balloon to the "road" (the pilot kept saying he would land us on the road, but I didn't see any roads.  How the "road" differed from the plain rocky desert floor, I'm not sure).  

I felt much better once we were actually out of the balloon.  We walked to our minivan, where some young local boys were begging.  Very sad.  One boy actually ran after our minivan, reached up to one of the windows, and then he fell when the van started going too fast.  He got up safely and limped away, but it really made me very sad....

When we got back to our boat, breakfast was ready.  After breakfast, we got back on the trusty motorboat and went back to the Valley of the Kings (which we had floated over earlier in the day).  Deja vu.  We went into three tombs there, in addition to King Tut's tomb, where we were able to see King Tut's mummy!  It's on display for only a few months!  Very lucky for us.  The etchings/paintings in all the tombs we entered were fascinating and extraordinary.  

We headed to Queen Hatshepsut's tomb after that -- it's in a great setting but is almost entirely reconstructed.  It was very HOT there.  

After that we visited one tomb in the Valley of the Queens.  There was a fetus "mummy" there, but basically only bones were left.  I could have done without that, I think.  

We went back to the boat for lunch, a nap, a shower, tea and cookies (every day at 5PM), and then Sweetie and I took the motorboat to Luxor and walked along the bank of the Nile.  We checked out the famous Winter Palace Hotel (French President Sarkozy stayed there a week later with his girlfriend).