500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [13]
Napa Valley, California: Like a great glass of wine, this region should be savored. As you leisurely float over vineyards, orchards, and fields in a hot-air balloon, your pilot will give you an overview of the area and point out landmarks. Long lines of grapes, apple trees, and mustard seeds blur into a patchwork quilt of bright greens, purples, browns, and yellows outlined by mountains. As you eventually move back toward earth and land in a meadow of wildflowers, the richness of this fertile area comes to life. www.napavalleyballoons.com.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming: It’s easy to speed through this part of the Wild West, but from a balloon’s perch more than 4,000 feet (1,220m) above the foothills, the natural beauty is profound. Watch as the sun rises over the Tetons. You drift over Jackson Hole, Teton Village, a working ranch bordered by Grand Teton National Park, the Bridger-Teton National Forest, the Snake River, and seven mountain ranges including the Yellowstone plateau. Keep a look out for elk and eagles. www.wyomingballoon.com.
Luxor, Egypt: Nearly a dozen balloons take off every morning from the west bank of Luxor and float above the Valley of the Kings—a sort of open-air museum—taking visitors high above the great pyramids, famous temples, and open fields that stretch toward the Nile River. You drift over the Ramesseum, a memorial temple for Pharaoh Ramesses II who ruled during Egypt’s 19th dynasty, and perhaps land somewhere in the desert south of Hatshepsut’s temple, built for one of Egypt’s rare female pharaohs who ruled during the 18th dynasty. Hod-Hod Soliman ( 20/95-370116).
Bagan, Myanmar (Burma): Architecture buffs, history lovers, and theologians will be astonished by this hot-air balloon voyage over Bagan’s sacred sites. On the banks of the Ayerwaddy River, the ancient city of Bagan boasts the world’s largest area of Buddhist temples, pagodas, stupas, and ruins—many dating to the 11th and 12th centuries. As you coast through the sky at dawn, mist swirls around the pagodas and monks line up for their daily procession. www.easternsafaris.com/balloons_over.html.
Check out spectacular sights from on-high in Bagan.
Saga City, Japan: Experience the thrill of hot-air balloons in Saga City during the Saga International Balloon Fiesta. Every year in the beginning of November, more than 3,500 serious competitors gather here to fly nearly 650 colorful balloons along the Kase River. One of the most popular events during this competition is “La Mongtgolfier Nocturne,” or the Night of Hot Air Balloons, when more than 50 inflated balloons tether to the ground after sunset and light their burners in a choreographed routine of illumination. Throughout the fall, more than 30 balloons take flight here every weekend. www.sibf.info.
Switzerland Tourism Board (www.myswitzerland.com, www.grindelwald.com, and www.myjungfrau.ch/en). Swiss Helicopter, 3814 Gsteigwiler ( 41/033-828-9000;www.swisshelicopter.ch/flights/passenger/special/show/10046).
Tour: Skydive Interlaken ( 41/33-222-5848;www.skydiveinterlaken.ch).
When to Go: Anytime, weather conditions permitting.
Bern-Belt airport, Basel airport, or Zurich airport, followed by a train ride to Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen, or a drive to Grindelwald.
$$ Hotel Belvedere Grindelwald, CH-3818 Grindelwald ( 41/033-854-5757;www.belvedere-grindelwald.ch). Eiger Guest House, CH-3825 Murrel ( 41/033-856-54-60;www.eigerguesthouse.com).
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Shotover Canyon Swing
A Superman-Like Flight
Queenstown, New Zealand
When it comes to naming the Adventure Capital of the World, there’s no contest: Queenstown is indisputably the heavyweight champion. (See , , and , for more Queenstown adventures.) The list of fear-factor offerings in this city is too long to recount. But the scariest one, by