Part 5: Hot air balloon ride over Luxor+....

Today started very early... Like at 4am! We were pick up in a van and then had a short boat ride from the East to the West bank of the Nile.

Upon arrival at the take off site we got to see the whole process of many balloons and baskets being unloaded from trucks and then inflated using large gas powered fans and the burners... Quite a sight! There was probably around 15 balloons!

The hot air balloon ride itself took us to get the best possible view of the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Valley of the Queens and Kings....

Next we visited the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.... Unfortunately cameras are prohibited so we all together just left them in the car.

The Valley of the Kings has over 63 tombs, some simple pits in the ground and other very elaborate 120+ chamber tombs! This is where the un-raided tomb of King Tutankhamun was found.

Photos from Wiki:

The Valley of the Queens is the same concept but at a smaller scale. Main tomb here is the Tomb of Queen Nefertari. But its been closed for renovation for many years now and unless you are Japanese and have lots of money, you cant see it. The Japanese have apparently donated a lot of money in general so they get special privilege$.


Next stop was the Temple of Queen Hatsheput! This place is magnificent. It s a huge temple built at the base of a "mountain bay"... The incredible part is that only about half of it is left.

After going back to out cruise ship we went out for a Falluca ride on the Nile river @ sunset...

Fellucas are relatively primitive wooden sail boats primarily used in the calm waters of the Nile River, Red Sea and other bodies of water in the region.

In this picture if you look closely you can see our boat captains helper climbed up mid "mast".

When we got back to shore we were able to get a quick glimpse of the Temple of Luxor.