Myanmar: Balloons Over Bagan


Day two in Bagan was set to be one of our biggest adventures yet; we had booked onto a sunrise trip on a hot air balloon with Balloons Over Bagan.

Everything kicked off around 5.30am, waiting in the dark outside our hotel. We were picked up by the Ballons Over Bagan people in one of their antique buses. The buses were left in Myanmar by the British army after WWII and were later converted into buses by resourceful locals.

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We made our way round picking up other guests and finally arrived at the start point on a local football pitch. Huge balloons were all laid out flat, ready to inflate. We were divided up into groups and for some reason we got put into one of the VIP groups (Stay quiet and don’t ask questions!). We were introduced to Javier our pilot for the day.

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After a quick introduction and chat about the trip and a few safety matters, we were given a quick walk around the balloon and then stood back to watch it be inflated. Within 10 minutes the balloon went from completely flat to a towering red hulk above us. We clambered into the basket and were away!

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Neither of us had been in a hot air balloon before, it was a really special experience. It’s a weirdly peaceful way to cruise around. I thought it may be a bit nervy climbing so high in just a big basket but it was just supremely peaceful.

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We went higher and higher until the people below were dots, looking to catch a wind that would send us in the right direction. Eventually we caught a breeze and were away. We sailed right through the plain getting a close up birds eye view of some of the biggest temples and waving to the tourists below. It really was a magical experience and one of the best things we did on our whole adventure.

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Before we knew it it was time to descend again. Landing a hot air balloon turned out to be pretty tricky too – we had to abort one landing site and skim over a nearby temple into the next field where we scraped down with the smallest of bumps.

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A Balloons Over Bagan crew had been tracking us the whole way in a pickup truck and they met us as we touched down. They quickly set up some chairs and a champagne and croissant breakfast for everyone whilst others began to pack away the balloon. After my disapproval of tourists popping champagne around impoverished children at Angkor Wat it felt a bit hypocritical to indulge, but at least we were in the middle of a field with no one around (and we had paid a hell of a lot for the trip so were after all we could get our hands on!).

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We finished up with the option of buying a $15 memory stick with some GoPro photos that had been taken during our flight. We took them up on this and had the stick delivered to our hotel later that day. It turned out to be a bit of an expensive luxury as it contained only a few decent personal shots, along with a load of stock photos that weren’t even from Bagan. I guess it’s a view you could never get otherwise though.

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We took the vintage bus all the way back to our hotel, where it was still early enough to enjoy a fair chunk of the morning before the heat really kicked in. The Balloons Over Bagan experience was pricey but well worth it. As long as you budget ahead for the indulgence I’d recommend it to anyone – truly unique!

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