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We had been asked before arranging the entire trip whether we wanted to balloon over Luxor, and for some reason had declined. We arrived in Luxor in the late afternoon from Cairo airport and were met by the tour rep. Once we were at our hotel (for just one night prior to transferring to the Historia cruse boat), the rep asked if we didn’t really want the balloon trip after all - but we had to decide right away as our only option was before dawn the next morning, and to pay cash up front. We’d only been ballooning once before, in Phoenix, and had loved it. So, 'why not??'. We hoped he was aboveboard!
It was a little less well-oiled operation than we expected as we ended up being attached to a Vietnamese group that ran late (we were meant to leave at 5:15am). We were ferried across the Nile in a little tour boat and then a rickety van to the launch site. It took a bit of time to get the balloon filled and ready to take off - something like 6:30am, well past sunrise, but still it was gorgeous.
There were 10s of balloons launching and views to the north were to the Valley of the Kings and other monuments, and to the south was the Nile and Luxor temple. Conditions were perfect with light winds taking us towards the Nile for a 30' ride over farmers' fields and villages.
Our pilot knew what he was doing and was in full control of the balloon. This did not seem universally true as some balloons landed in farmed fields and one in the town itself. Our landing was entirely smooth.
Once de-ballooned, it was back to the ferry boat on the Nile and to our hotel where we met our guide Nermeena and made our way to the Historia cruise boat which would be our hotel for the remaining 2 nights in Luxor.
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