Skyfaring In Luxor, Egypt: A Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride Over the Valley of the Kings

At 5am, we got ready for our sunrise hot air balloon ride. We were each handed a small bag of breakfast items to take with us at the lobby of our cruise. A few of us ate a muffin or a slice of bread but were mostly not hungry at that early. We were then picked up by a cab who was going to take us to the launch site in ancient Luxor near the Valley of the Kings.

Our cruise was docked on the east bank of the Nile we had to go to west bank. There are many ferries between the two banks, but since we were in a car, we had to go to the outskirts of the center of Luxor and get to the other bank.

As we got out of the cab, two little kids were waiting, asking us for the bags, and I knew they meant our breakfast bags. I had them three of our four bags, someone might as well make use of all this food.

Huge pickup trucks towing enormous boxes containing the balloons assemble pre-dawn in preparation for the rides. The burners were roaring, the balloons were inflating and the sky was still a deep silent blue.

The photography team of our company got all of our fellow passengers ready and made us do some funny exercises and poses while giving us instructions on what to expect. The lift-off in the thick woven wicker basket that was carrying all 20 of us felt more like floating than flying. As our balloon rose peacefully to the top, we saw the sky transforming its color to a warm gold. 

The sun shows its light on the gorgeous landscape all around. On one side, we saw The Valley of the Kings where the tombs of pharaohs like Tutankhamun and Ramses lie carved into the hillside. The morning light brightens the unique ridges of the necropolis stretch across the barren desert backdrop slowly and steadily. On the other side we saw the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut with its unique architecture that’s carved into the rocky cliffs. One side of it was complete desert while the other side is a beautiful emerald green patches of farmland that’s bursting with fertility thanks to the ribbon of the Nile River its banking along.

Our pilot was a 40 year old who had completed over a 1000 rides and was gently allowing the balloon to rotate with the breeze.

We saw balloons almost landing in fields outside of the launch area and crews trying to bring them into somewhat manageable territory. After roughly 45–60 minutes in the air we descended softly onto a desert field. After that we crossed the Nile in a ferry boat and get back to the town center of Luxor.

I recently read the news that researchers have identified Tamil Brahmi and Sanskrit graffiti was left behind by Indian merchants and traders who visited the tombs in the Valley of Kings during the Roman times. One Tamil name, “Cikai Koṟṟaṉ” meaning “crowned leader”, appears up to eight times across five tombs, often near entrances or high on walls.

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