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hot air balloon
Jenohn and others about to lift off at dawn on the NileMay 8, 2012 Luxor, Egypt
Nautica arrived in the Egyptian port of Safaga early May 7. Safaga is an ancient port city on the Red Sea. It is not much to look at but it is the closest port to Luxor and the Nile valley. I boarded one of 15 buses that left in a convoy across the desert. The journey took more than 3 hours. There was a military vehicle at the front and rear of the convoy. The Egyptians are extra cautious ever since a deadly attack on a bus load of Germans about 20 years ago. There were police checkpoints every 20 kilometers, but the officers on duty seemed totally uninterested in our purpose. Most of them were sitting in the shade smoking and hardly even looked up as we slowly lurched over the speed bumps in the at each one lane checkpoint.
The desert is bleak to say the least but there seems to be some mining going on in the distance. Once we started the descent into the Nile valley the topography changed dramatically. Colorless desert turned into lush green farm land. The roads and farms are lined with palm
from the balloon
hovering over harvest ready wheat field. the wheat has been bundled in sheaves the old fashioned way trees and every so often beautiful flowering scrubs and trees appeared. It is little wonder that the ancient Egyptians referred to the Nile as the ocean of life. Without the Nile this would be a waste land.
Our first stop was at the Valley of the Kings where the tombs of more than 60 Egyptian Kings have been found. I entered three of the tombs to see the beautiful paintings and plaster carvings. The tomb of Tutankhamen was nearby by but I chose not to go in. It is small and I have already seen the contents of the tomb when I visited a touring exhibit in Seattle about 30 years ago. The heat along with the swarms of vendors trying to sell all sorts of cheap Chinese made souvenirs made for a less than pleasant visit. I wanted time to contemplate the historical significance of the place but that was not possible given the hubbub.
The rest of the visit fortunately was sublime. I visited the Temple of Habu built by Ramses III and the beautiful temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Along the way we stopped to see the Colossi of Memnon which are
valley of the kings
looking toward the valley of the kings from a balloon badly damaged but still impressive. There appears to be excavation going on everywhere as effort is still underway to unearth buried ancient sites. In the evening we checked into a 5 star hotel, the Senesta St. George, on the east bank of the Nile. A dinner banquet was awaiting us on a huge terrace at the edge of the great river. The evening air was cool, the moon was full. The Valley of the Kings in the distance on the west side of the river was dimly outlined with floodlights.
This morning I was awakened at 3:15am to prepare for the adventure of a life time. At dawn I boarded a small boat at the river’s edge where we were transported to a van on the other side. The bus took us to a balloon launching area where I climbed into a hot-air balloon with 20 other folks. The balloon lifted off just as the sun was rising over the Nile valley. I don’t think I have ever seen anything more beautiful. We floated high over the valley for an hour. I saw many temples and tombs from straight above them. The valley is a carpet of
Nile River
crossing the Nile at dawn green and scattered among the ancient sites are irrigated farms with lush fields of sugar cane, alfalfa, wheat and other crops. It reminded me of the Yellowstone Valley in Montana where I grew up. There the valley has been made green and productive with irrigation from the river much as here in Egypt. The big difference is that the Egyptians have been cultivating this land for thousands of years. The project in Montana is barely 100 years old. Farming in Egypt also remains very labor intensive compared to modern farming in Montana. What I saw from the air reminded me of the more primitive method of harvesting that my grandfather used on his farm in the 1950s. Grandpa used a 1938 John Deere two cylinder tractor. In Egypt farming still relies primarily on swathing and gathering by hand. Produce is hauled away on donkey carts.
At times the balloon descended to just above the farmers’ heads, close enough for them to wave and shout hello. We finally landed in a desert area just past a beautiful oasis on the edge of one of the temple areas. I crawled out of the balloon basket with the memory of
Habu temple
the great temple of Habu from the air an experience I shall never, ever forget.
After returning to the hotel by river boat we were taken on a tour of the Temple of Karnak and the Luxor Temple. Karnak is so vast it is impossible to see it on one visit. Even with having to share the experience with many tourists from all over the world, it was an awe inspiring tour. The obelisks and statues which have stood for a couple of thousand years are incredible. The whole site is still undergoing restoration and new discoveries continue. The two mile avenue of the Sphinx is being restored through the center of Luxor along the Nile. What an exceptional site!
I am exhausted now that I am back on the ship. It was an arduous but wonderful two days in Egypt. Now Nautica is headed north and is expected to begin transit of the Suez Canal early tomorrow morning. That will be another adventure.
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