One of my first memories of Luxor was arriving very early on the overnight train from Cairo, climbing to the roof of the hostel, and seeing the hot air balloons carry tourists all around the desert sky.

I imagined the view was beautiful and that ancient ruins from up above must be quite a sight to see.

But, this balloon crash on Feb. 26 that killed 19 tourists with a 1,000 foot drop is horrible.

Something that is meant to be so beautiful becomes completely ugly. My thoughts go out to these fellow travelers and their families.

Here's a link to some photos of what happened as well.