Category Archives: travel

Over the course of my ATC career, I’ve flown on many aircraft: the USAF C-141A and C-5A; U.S. Customs UH-1H (to the top of Franklin Mountains and back); Model 18 “Twin Beech” (island hopping in Hawai’i); Cessna 208 “Caravan” (over and through the Grand Canyon with my old college buddy David); MD 500 (on a Border Patrol mission); NASA’s STA (Shuttle Training Aircraft on a couple of Space Shuttle pilot training missions); jump seat on old Continental Airlines DC-3; and more Boeings, McDonnell Douglas’, and Airbus’ than I can even count. I’ve also jump-seated on several commercial airliners, and my first flight as a youngster was aboard a TWA Constellation, on which I was invited into the cockpit while in flight (those were the days!).

But you know what is missing from that list? Sailplane, blimp, semi-rigid airship (like a blimp but with an internal truss supporting the envelope), and a hot air balloon. Lacking a flight on tht last one was something we intended to remedy this trip, so before sunrise on Saturday, 1 March 2025, Ursula and bundled up and headed out to the launch site along with around a dozen fellow balloon “gondoliers”. But as soon as we arrived I expressed my doubts. No; I wasn’t having second thoughts about the flight. I was judging the wind and told our gondola companions that my money was we would be cancelled out. After waiting over an hour, that’s precisely what happened, doggonit. So, back to our riverboat to join up with Mohamad Salah for some different adventures. First stop: The 14th century BC Colossi of Memnon.

These two statues depict Amenhotep III taking a load off his feet. But even seated, this guy and his doppleganger were tall — 60 feet/18 meters. The remnants of Amenhoteps mortuary temple can be seen in the distance, behind the statues. But disregard that for a moment and take a look at the mountain behind, for that is our next photo stop. Behold the Valley of the Nobles:

You may recall that I showed you what archeological sites we would be visiting on our two-day Luxor visit:

But here’s a closeup map to help orient you among the Colossi, Valley of the Nobles, and the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut:

As you can see, the distance from the Colossi to the Valley of the Nobles is quite short — about 1.3km/4,200 feet. So, with a good telephoto, you can snag shots of the tombs even from the Colossi. But once you round the bend west of the Colossi and stop alongside the road, you gain an even better vantage point:

I labled the image above the “Luxor Edition” because there are several such sites around Egypt. The site here is home to well over four hundred Ancient Egyptian nobles.

We had much to do this day, so we were a bit rushed. As such, and considering our aging knees, there was no way we were going to head up onto the mountain for a closer look and to step inside some of the tombs. The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut awaited, so I just snagged some quick shots before Mohamad guided us back into our vehicle.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)