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Balloon Ride!
21 Jul 2019 07:02We took a sunrise balloon ride over the pyramids. And unusually, our balloon went directly over the the Sun Pyramid!
The pilot was great, and the ride was smooth. We landed in a field that was about the size of a typical urban house lot, so not big, and neighbors came out to take a look. We were served champagne and orange juice after landing. The story is that the French balloonists would take champagne with them to give to the peasants in exchange for landing on their fields. He also recited the Balloonists prayer in both English and Spanish.
Each balloon had a name (ours was 'Maximus'), and there were 4 small compartments in our balloon's basket, each holding 3 people. When we were paying at the counter, they asked for our weight in kilos, presumably so they could distribute the weight.
Getting into the basket took a bit of maneuvering! I guess I had pictured a little door to get into the basket, lol! But instead, there were footholds, that you used to climb, then swung your leg over to hop into the basket. Since there were already people in my compartment, I had to be careful how I did that!
Evidently, the prices vary considerably year over year. This year, the price was USD$130 for the ride. There are different companies which provide balloon rides -- we let our innkeeper arrange this one.
Our balloon being filled --
Shot of some of the other balloons being filled --
There seemed to be upwards of 20 balloons in the air that morning, not all of them from the company we used.
Sun Pyramid -- I think this was after we had already passed over it --
If I remember, me and 1 or 2 others were asked to jump out after the basket was on the ground. And the rest after the basket was maneuvered to the trailer it would be towed back on --
Pilot doling out champagne --
It was a good experience!
The pilot was great, and the ride was smooth. We landed in a field that was about the size of a typical urban house lot, so not big, and neighbors came out to take a look. We were served champagne and orange juice after landing. The story is that the French balloonists would take champagne with them to give to the peasants in exchange for landing on their fields. He also recited the Balloonists prayer in both English and Spanish.
Each balloon had a name (ours was 'Maximus'), and there were 4 small compartments in our balloon's basket, each holding 3 people. When we were paying at the counter, they asked for our weight in kilos, presumably so they could distribute the weight.
Getting into the basket took a bit of maneuvering! I guess I had pictured a little door to get into the basket, lol! But instead, there were footholds, that you used to climb, then swung your leg over to hop into the basket. Since there were already people in my compartment, I had to be careful how I did that!
Evidently, the prices vary considerably year over year. This year, the price was USD$130 for the ride. There are different companies which provide balloon rides -- we let our innkeeper arrange this one.
Our balloon being filled --
Shot of some of the other balloons being filled --
There seemed to be upwards of 20 balloons in the air that morning, not all of them from the company we used.
Sun Pyramid -- I think this was after we had already passed over it --
If I remember, me and 1 or 2 others were asked to jump out after the basket was on the ground. And the rest after the basket was maneuvered to the trailer it would be towed back on --
Pilot doling out champagne --
It was a good experience!
