Hot air balloon Luxor Take Off Site — Local services in New Al Qarnh City

I think this was my favourite experience ever! To visit Egypt was a life long dream but never in a million years did i expect to be seeing it from the angles I did in a Hot air ballon.

The experience was meant to take place once Saturday and then Sunday but due to weather conditions was put off until Monday morning, with a 4.20 pick up at the hotel. It was worth the 3.30 alarm clock on our last day.

We were taken to the dock at Luxor by minibus transfer, before hoping on a boat that took us across the river with coffee and a twinky. Then once across you hop into another minibus the other side to take you to the Hot air ballon site. As you drive into the compound, you can't help but feel excited at the shear sight of these amazing Air ballons being set up. It's not long before you are ready to climb into the 20+ passenger wicker basket with your Hot air ballon piolet and minutes after that, take off with a few blasts of fire/ hot air. You begin to take flight and leave all your troubles on the ground.

It was so beautiful getting to see other ballons take off at the same time and see these enormous spectacles take you up into the air. We picked the first flight of the day to see the sun rise and boy was it worth the 10 pound difference. You get to see the Tomb of Hapshetsut and float over the Valley, passing crop fields houses and great monuments. As the ballon rises and slowly spins you get a 360 view through out your ride. The feeling you get is individual and so vast. We had a group of Chinese tourists that broke out into song as the sun rose above the hills. Another woman cried tears of happiness and joy at the sites, another guy stuck firmly to the inside of the basket as he wa afraid of heights and I as well as being snap happy couldn't believe my lucky stars that I was getting to experience such beauty on a trip I'd only booked a few months earlier.

Once you have been up for 30 minutes or so you begin your decent into the desert area and make a soft landing where you are greeted by the landing team. There are also a few locals who come asking for money, kids mainly. After you disembark the basket you get a group photo with the captain and there is an opportunity to buy photos of the flight, video and USB. We opted not to due to taking a butt load of pictures yourself. You also get a certificate from them to say you had a ballon ride. Then once your group is collected it's back to the river bank to make the trip to the other side of the river and back to your respective hotels. We booked our trip through the tour rep...

Definitely a great experience! Although there is always a safety concern I felt very safe throughout the experience. The locals in charged of the hot air ballon flight as well as the pilot of the ballon did a great job. The tour was organized through Viking, the cruise line we took. It is not a cheap adventure but it is worth it! Flying over the Valley of the Kings was an incredible experience! To visit Luxor and the tombs on the Valley of The kings is a dream but seeing it from the the air was indescribable. We left the ship very early to be ready to take off by 6:30 am. From the ship we took a short bus drive and then we went across the Nile with a little cute ship. These hot air balloons carry up to 24 people each, but you don’t feel crowded as there is some room to move to take pictures. As the ballon starts lifting in the air and the sun appears in the horizon and you float over the Valley of the Kings, passing crop fields houses and monuments you are transported to another time, another era. It was incredible. The ballon slowly spins and you get a 360 view through out your ride. The flight takes approximately 30 minutes, enough to see everything you want to see and experience. The landing was very professional and soft. After you disembark the basket you are offered the opportunity to buy a video on an USB. You also get a certificate from them to say you had a ballon ride. The ride back to the ship was quiet and peaceful as everyone was enjoying the experience we just had. Absolutely worth it....

Wow, what an experience! Now, ask me, like most people do 'if it's safe'. This completely depends on your definition of safe. By now, you've been driven around the country and have a rough idea of what that's like... so ballooning in Egypt is kind of the same... mostly saf(ish) with a low chance of an accident in any given hour, but your feeling of safety tends to be highly aspirational. At least this was true for me when our pilot missed a couple of landing spots, a minaret, and some power lines and landed us in a village dump (which my wife said it wasn't). In short, great adventure and you too can have a story for...