Hot Air Balloon

The hot air balloon ride was an optional one and it cost us USD 110.00. Only eight of us opted for the ride.

We had to wake up at 4:00am to leave the ship by 4:30 to be in time to catch the spectacular sunrise, as we were told. From the ship, we took a van to another part of Nile River to catch a small boat to cross to the West Bank.

When we reached the place just past 5:00, there were already many people, some were getting ready to ‘go on board’.

While on the boat, we were asked to write down our weight and the 'load' would be distributed accordingly.

We waited anxiously for our turn. Six of us were in a small ‘basket’ while the other two were placed in a big ‘basket’ of 20 with other group of tourists.

Before take off, our pilot, Housam explained to us what to do during landing and explained that there are three types of landing, ‘Egyptian – which is the smooth and safe landing, the US and I think the British type.’ We had an Egyptian landing at a sugarcane farm!

The excited and anxious ones – WE!


Getting ready (above and below)



Off they went


Our balloon…

…and our turn to take off
3, 2, 1…

With our pilot, Housam. He had piloted
hot air balloons 500 times.

Our lives were in the pilot’s hand, literally!?

The meter reads – 830 feet.
The highest we reached was 1,000 feet (305m).

For USD 110.00, besides the 50-minute ride and

tea/coffee with some snacks, we also received

this T-shirt and a certificate (below).