Dream Trip 2008: September

Great Travel Moment

Prior to sunrise, silently floating in a hot air balloon over the Valley of the Dead on the West Bank, Luxor, Egypt. It is too dark to see anything yet. Our pilot fires the burners and we are part of a surreal expedition, drifting over ancient lands. No one but us in the world or above it. For the first time in weeks, what we cannot see ignites our imaginations more than all the ancient treasures below us. If you have never been in a hot air balloon, the firing of the burners is almost mystical--the brass glowing along with the rising sun.