Saturday, November 6, 2010

Photos - hot air balloon

November 5, 2010
the market

Luxor temple across from my hotel

It's 6am and i'm nervous and excited!

Five of us from the group left at 5:30 am for our felucca ride across the nile to catch our van ride to the hot air balloon location.  there were many balloons going up.  To be honest, I was nervous, i know it's rare, but things can go wrong with these balloons.  The ride was about 50 minutes, and it was fabulous!  The fire is of course very hot, but not blowing constantly, We were thankful for the heat shield above our heads.  The experience was very peaceful. We flew over an area that had canals off of the Nile to water their crops.  We saw farmers in the fields, ancient monuments and grazed along the tops of the sugar cane while descending.  Our landing was perfect!  We were coached on different types of landings and had to practice them ahead of time, but we touched down calmly.  I am so glad I went on the hot air balloon, it's something that I've wanted to do for a long time
our balloon

in the air!  it's lovely!
notice how abruptly the greenery ends and the desert begins.  there are canals in this area, diverting the water from the Nile to make farming possible.




the tops of local homes.  This is very typical looking

when it never rains,  you don't need much of a roof.  many of the rooms are open air.

the guys squeezing the air out of the balloon

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