Hot Air Balloon Ride over Luxor at Sunrise

Balloons fly at dawn because that is when the air is calm, and at Luxor that timing turns out to be a gift. You lift off in the half-light, and the sun comes up over the eastern desert while you are a few hundred meters above the West Bank.

From up there the layout of ancient Thebes becomes obvious in a way it never is from the ground. The Nile divides the living from the dead: temples and city on the east bank, tombs and mortuary temples on the west. You see the Valley of the Kings as a dry fold in the hills, the terraces of Hatshepsut's temple cut into the cliff, the Colossi of Memnon standing alone in the fields, and the sharp green line where irrigation stops and the desert starts.

How the morning works

Pickup is very early - typically between 4:00 and 5:00 depending on the season - from your hotel in an air-conditioned car. You cross to the launch site, watch the envelopes inflate, and board. The flight itself is 45 minutes. Afterwards you are driven back to your hotel, usually in time for breakfast.

Honest expectations

• Balloon flights are weather-dependent and cancellations happen. Wind at altitude is the usual reason and the decision is not ours - it belongs to the operator and the aviation authority. Book this for early in your stay so there is room to try again.
• Baskets carry a number of passengers in shared compartments. You stand for the whole flight, so it needs a reasonable level of mobility.
• Landing can be a firm bump. The crew will show you the bracing position and it is worth listening.
• It is cold at 5am in Luxor from November through February. Bring a jacket - people in shorts regret it every single morning.

Good to know before you book

• The whole outing takes about 2 hours including transfers.
• Transfers within Luxor are included; pickup from a Nile cruise ship or outside Luxor carries a $5 per person supplement.
• Lunch, photography and video services are not included. Bring your own camera - the light in the first twenty minutes is the best you will get in Egypt.

$55 per person (regular price $61), including the 45-minute flight and transfers in Luxor.