Balloon Flight over Luxor and other Luxor, Egypt Things to Do Tips

The highlight of my visit to Luxor was a hot-air balloon flight. Going in a balloon was one of those things that I had always dreamt of doing - and what a place to do it!!

We departed our cruise boat at around 7am, collected in a small bus, and driven further down the river. We then jumped on a small boat, to cross to the other side of the Nile. On the boat we were given tea and cake. We then went on another small bus to wait for our balloon.....there was a delay as the captain was sick.... So back onto another small bus, and a drive through a sugar cane field to finally we arrived at our balloon.

It was huge - "the biggest balloon in Luxor" and fit 19 passengers. We all had to climb up into the basket and stand up all squashed in together but very happy and excited.

The take off was so smooth - we really were floating!! It was as amazing as I had hoped. We floated over farming land, temples and desert. It was such an incredible experience.

After an amazing hour or so, we landed in the desert - how cool is that!

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Other Contact: skycruise@link.net

The Colossi of Memnon are two giant statues on the west bank of Luxor. They are made from quartzose sandstone and stand about 23 metres tall.

They were originally built to guard a temple, that no longer exists, and these days look quite magnificent standing alone by the side of the road. Each statue is seated and rests on a huge granite plinth.

There are a few other remains at the site, including two headless sphinxes.

You can't miss these huge statues, as they are on the main road, and it is easy to pull into the parking area for a quick look, and some photos of course!!

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Directions: The Colossi of Memnon are situated about half a kilometre east of the Antiquities Inspectorate (the ticket office) on the main road to the West Bank monument area.
Website: http://www.touregypt.net/collmem.htm

Hatshepsut was the most famous of the female pharaohs in Ancient Egypt. Her reign was the longest of all the female pharaohs, and her temple still stands as a tribute to her incredible rise to power. She was the the queen who became king.

The temple is located close to the Valley of the Kings. It is partly cut into the cliff face and partly free-standing.

It is quite a spectacular sight from from a distance, and well worth the walk from the car park, and the climb up the steps to the temple.

Once you get up to the temple there is also a great view looking back across the valley.

I have a few more photos from the temple in my Travelogue

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Address: Deir al-Bahri, Luxor
Website: http://www.bediz.com/hatshep/

The Valley of the Kings is a canyon and a place of death, where nothing grows on the steep cliffs and it gets scorching hot - even in winter when we were there!

The valley is home to around 20 tombs - the final resting place of ancient pharaohs. It is here that the tomb of the famous pharaoh Tutankhamun can be found.

From the car park you can catch a Tuf Tuf (small road train) up to the entrance of the tomb area.

On our visit we had the chance to go into 3 tombs, and they were all spectacular inside - the walls/ceilings were covered with coloured paintings and hieroglyphs, carved into the walls.

Make sure you bring some water with you - it gets pretty hot and crowded inside some of the tombs. Oh, and no photos can be taken inside to protect the coloured hieroglyphs.

It is hard to explain how impressive it is - you will have to see it for yourself!

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Website: http://www.touregypt.net/kingtomb.htm

Karnak Temple is huge. It covers an area of 1500m by 800m. There are sanctuaries, huge columns, obelisks and even a sacred lake.

I particularly like the main entrance to the temple, which is lined by ram-headed sphinxes (though most of them are missing their heads these days).

Another highlight is the Great Hypostyle Hall, where there are 134 huge stone columns, dwarfing anyone who walks through them.

There are 2 spectacular obelisks that were donated to the temple by the famous King/Queen Hatshepsut.

We had about 90 minutes to visit the temple, and our tour guide took us around and showed us the highlights. But you really need a few hours here to take it all in. There is just so much to see here.

Don't forget your water, and your comfortable shoes - oh, and you'll definitely need your camera!

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Directions: East Bank, Luxor
Website: http://www.touregypt.net/karnak.htm

By the time we made it to Luxor Temple we were pretty exhausted - we had been on the go since early that day - balloon flight, temples, tombs....luckily the temple was beautiful enough to hold our attention and raise our flagging spirits!

We arrived just before sunset, and entered through the fabulous front pylon to explore inside.

There are lots of impressive columns in this temple - there are the large columns in the Colonnade of Amenhotep III, and then the equally impressive Hypostyle Hall where there are 32 columns.

As the sunset over Luxor, the temple was lit up and the lights bouncing off the columns really added to our experience here.

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Address: East Bank, Luxor
Directions: Luxor Temple is on the Corniche in the central part of the town, opposite the ferry dock.
Website: http://www.egyptsites.co.uk/upper/luxoreast/luxor/luxor.html

One of the really unique things about Luxor Temple is that it contains a mosque!

For an extended period of time (a long long time ago), the Temple was buried beneath the streets and houses of Luxor. At one stage the mosque of Sufi Shaykh Yusuf Abu al-Hajjaj was built over it.

When the Temple was eventually re-discovered and uncovered, the mosque was preserved, and today it is one of the highlights of a visit to the Temple.

As you walk through the Temple, look up to your left and you will see this "door", which will help you to get a feel for how much of the Temple was buried at the time the mosque was built.

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Address: East Bank, Luxor
Directions: Luxor Temple is on the Corniche in the central part of the town, opposite the ferry dock.
Website: http://www.egyptsites.co.uk/upper/luxoreast/luxor/luxor.html