Valley of the Kings, Egypt, 2010

We started in the dark, with a boat and bus ride, to catch a sunrise launch for a hot air balloon float overlooking the Valley of the Kings. This view is looking northwest toward the Pharaohs’ necropolis. About a mile to the east from here is the southern Nile. Across the river is Luxor, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, population just under a half million, encompassing the ancient city of Thebes, and the ruins of the temples Karnack and Luxor. The agricultural ribbon along the banks of the Nile expands and contracts, and here, in one of the broader sections, is a little over two miles wide, then quickly transitions from fertile to arid. Tut’s tomb (and body, but not burial artifacts) is located just the other side of the ridge line on the left, along with several Ramses nearby. Beyond that, continuing west, are 3000 miles of desert sand and rock, all the way to the lapping waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

Superficially, there’s great contrast as sand meets salty water, but a lyric from America’s “A Horse With No Name,” comes to mind suggesting a commonality between the grand landscapes of desert and ocean:

“The ocean is a desert with its life underground
And a perfect disguise above”

For more photographs from the balloon ride, go to https://www.billdurrence.com/index/G0000JOIIc0rtXeM