karnak light & sound show vs. visiting Karnak

[stingraynz]

I have booked an overnight stay in Luxor with Decastro tours. Originally our 2nd day itinerary was we were supposed to be picked up at our hotel at 9AM visit Karnak and then off to meet the convoy to the ship. We took this opportunity to book a wonderful SUNRISE balloon ride over the valley of the kings etc that was dropping us back at the hotel by 7:30AM so we can meet the decastro tour by the 9AM pick up.

 

Plans have now changed when I questioned the convoy timing decastro told us 'yes' we will need to be picked up at 6AM visit Karnak finish by 7:30 and meet the convoy at 8AM. NO TIME for balloon.

 

So we can either try to get a SUNSET balloon ride OR go to Karnak light and sounds show (instead of Karnak in the AM with the rest fo our group) and do the balloon & then meet our group at the convoy at 8am.

 

Help....what to do!?!!

 

Has anyone ever done a SUNSET balloon ride? Do you have a company to recommend.

 

Thanks so much....I welcome all opinions.

[Amaranthine33]

I have booked an overnight stay in Luxor with Decastro tours. Originally our 2nd day itinerary was we were supposed to be picked up at our hotel at 9AM visit Karnak and then off to meet the convoy to the ship. We took this opportunity to book a wonderful SUNRISE balloon ride over the valley of the kings etc that was dropping us back at the hotel by 7:30AM so we can meet the decastro tour by the 9AM pick up.

 

Plans have now changed when I questioned the convoy timing decastro told us 'yes' we will need to be picked up at 6AM visit Karnak finish by 7:30 and meet the convoy at 8AM. NO TIME for balloon.

 

So we can either try to get a SUNSET balloon ride OR go to Karnak light and sounds show (instead of Karnak in the AM with the rest fo our group) and do the balloon & then meet our group at the convoy at 8am.

 

Help....what to do!?!!

 

Has anyone ever done a SUNSET balloon ride? Do you have a company to recommend.

 

Thanks so much....I welcome all opinions.

 

Personally, I'd go on the sunset balloon ride over Karnak. It should be amazing! I wanted to do a balloon ride in Luxor, but didn't have time. I also haven't seen the Karnak sound and light show, but I've seen the one at the Giza Pyramids, which was OK.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Karnak is a wonderful site to tour. We did the sound and light show; this was ten years ago and it was a walking tour with narration, lights, at night of course. It was very enjoyable, but we thought the light show at the pyramids was much more spectacular.

 

I've never taken a balloon ride, dawn or dusk, but the sunset ride sounds amazing. Floating along the Nile, across the ruins and the desert would be dream-like.

[Sekhmet]

I think I'd opt for the balloon ride. If I've read your itinerary correctly, the Karnak visit is pick up and drive to the site, see it and leave, all in 90 minutes, which I would suggest is a bit of a waste of time. Karnak is huge and complex, and a whistle-stop tour in that short a time doesn't do it justice. Leave it for your next visit and do it properly - we've been to Karnak more than half a dozen times, and there are still parts we haven't yet seen.

 

The Sound and Light is pretty good - you spend the first part walking through the temple complex with just small areas lit up as you approach them, followed by a sit-down finale near the Sacred Lake. In fact, I think the best way to see Karnak is the S&L first, then visit(s) during the day later. The only thing which spoils the show is thoughtless people optimistically trying to take flash photographs of illuminated monuments 50 yards away - rather defeats the object of a Son et Lumiere, I would have thought!

[stingraynz]

Thanks all of you for your input. It really helps.

 

sekhmet - thanks for being so specifc and I feel a little more confident as you seem to have been there many times. And, Yes, I hear you on the camera flashing. That has been a pet peeve of mine since the digital photography has taken over. ;)

[Sekhmet]

Thanks all of you for your input. It really helps.

 

sekhmet - thanks for being so specifc and I feel a little more confident as you seem to have been there many times. And, Yes, I hear you on the camera flashing. That has been a pet peeve of mine since the digital photography has taken over. ;)

 

It's a pleasure. We have visited Egypt seven times so far, and it's always our fall-back destination if we have a quick week to spare (and the requisite funds, of course!). It's only a five hour flight from the UK, and having been before, don't need to take any time to "learn the ropes". We usually have a specific list of what we want to see, and arrange for a local guide.

 

So, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

Enjoy Egypt!

[Trece]

We've been to Egypt twice on two different river cruise/land packages & are planning to go back to Egypt again next year (I guess you can see we love it there!). On the most recent trip, which was in February, we used DeCastro to fill in with a few excursions that OAT didn't provide, so we're familiar with the company.

 

My two cents:

 

1. We did the Karnak sound & light show on our first trip in 1999. I really loved it, especially the walking part. However - since most of us are on a whirlwind when visiting Egypt, I found that the minute I sat down in the dark for the longer part of the show, my eyes were closing & I was nodding off. So was DH and so were our friends. :o We plan to do it again on our next trip, when we will be staying in Luxor for about a week, and hopefully will be a little more rested when we're there. I would probably vote against doing it on a day when you are literally up at the crack of dawn, or before!

 

2. If you find a company that sells SUNSET balloon rides, please post and let us know. This was something we were interested in on our last trip, but we ended up doing the sunrise version instead, mostly due to timing of other activities, but somewhat due to the fact that I could not independently find any information about sunset rides before we left the US. Also, we were in Luxor for several nights & never saw balloons at dusk. We loved the balloon so much we definitely plan on doing it again, but if a p.m. option were available we'd probably pick it to contrast with the a.m. version, but I'm just not sure there is one.

 

I don't believe the balloons go over Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, and the Nile, probably for safety/landing reasons. The airport is on that side of the river as well, I think. We took off and landed in a sugar cane field on the west bank of the Nile and flew near the Temple of Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings etc. We could SEE Karnak, Luxor, and the Winter Palace on the east bank but we certainly were not OVER them. Several companies were in the air at the same time and everyone was in the same vicinity. I didn't see anyone cross over to the east side of the Nile. Just so that there's no misunderstanding about where the balloons go, at least in my limited experience. It was still worth every penny & getting up in the dark!

 

The balloons are highly weather/wind dependent. I'm not sure I would pick the balloon vs. Karnak Temple for my first visit (because I think even for 1.5 hours it's worth an introductory visit), but if you do pick an a.m. balloon ride, be sure to have a backup plan.

 

Don't forget to let us know if you find a sunset balloon company!

[stingraynz]

Thanks again for your posts.

 

Trece - your $0.02 was at least worth five bucks ;). Thanks I printed your details out. Thanks for pointing out the areas the balloon ride flies over - makes sense.

 

In my latest research it seems that in the last while the balloon rides have been controlled under more strict regulations for safety etc. Which makes me feel good. The companies no longer offer sunset rides (if they did in the past - I do not know). It seems the winds are unpredictable that time of day. So I would not feel comfortable even if I found a company who did them. But so far the company I am dealing with said that no one does them. So no sunset balloon rides over luxor.

 

So far, we have decided on Karnak sound & light show in the evening & we are leaning towards the balloon ride in the AM instead of Karnak tour. As Sekhmet said...we will have to see karnak in more detail the next visit.

 

The only worry now is how we can meet our decastro tour van after the balloon ride at the convoy meeting area.

 

Do anybody know how the convoy works? Does all the vehicles just meet up on the entrance of the highway/road way? Or is it more of a truckstop or parking lot. I'm not sure what to think.

[Trece]

Stingraynz, Here's a photo to whet your appetite! However......

 

I'm not sure if you are doing the balloon ride on your own or under the "auspices" of DeCastro but here are two more cents!

 

You get picked up on the east bank of the Nile (probably at your hotel, and the van may be stopping at other pickup points) & are driven to a boat to cross to the west bank, where you are met by another vehicle to get to the launch site. There is a safety briefing. Then the balloon rides are sortof open ended as to time. If they catch good winds (whatever the technical name is!) they stay up longer, and you will not be a popular person if you are bugging the balloon guy to land because you have to meet the convoy. When the balloon ride is over, there is a little certificate presentation ceremony, dancing, and music out in the sugar cane field, then there is a vehicle ride back to the boat that crosses back to the east bank of the Nile. Then you need to get to your convoy point. In other words, there are PLENTY of opportunities for the timing to not be what you are expecting, especially in Egypt! If the balloon was entirely dedicated to your own group, it might work, but the balloons hold about 20 people who most likely will not be working on your timetable.

 

I feel like I'm sticking a pin in your balloon, but if you are planning this balloon ride "outside" of the DeCastro package, with a real necessity to be at X point at Y time - I can't help but thinking it's not wise. I'd go to Karnak with the group and save the balloon for that NEXT visit that ALL of us end up making!

 

Maybe others have a different take.

[Manny's mom]

I saw the light show at Karnak--ugh!!! Go ballooning!!. The show was boring, we were packed in like sardines, and it was mobbed.

[Narita]

since you have a history and love of the area we travel to next--how would you spend two days and one night from Safraga where we are on aSilver sea cruise ship?

[stingraynz]

Narita - we booked a tour with DeCastro and they provided the overnight accommodations in with the tour price. You can probably just book your own hotel & then have them pick up/drop off there, but we were going with a small group from CC and it is easier to just have Decastro do everything. The ship usually provides an overnight tour but in our case the ship's tour was double the price, Even with the same hotel (Sonesta St George). The ship's tours are also leaving out on the first convoy at 8am as well.

 

Everyone else - thanks so much for the help. I think everything has worked out. I booked the sound and light show. Then DeCastro came through with securing another convoy for his tours at 11am so we are not going back when the ship tours go back at 8am so we can see Karnak for a couple of hours (which is better than before) we also can still do our Balloon ride from 5am-7 as originally planned. Through all this DeCastro and our Balloon company (egypt&you) were great and were really working for the best solution for us. I was very pleased.

 

Thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction.