WATCHING RISING HOT AIR BALLOONS WHILE EATING BREAKFAST ON THE ROOFTOP

16th DECEMBER 2019 ~ The second session of watching hot air balloons rising into the sky happened while we were eating breakfast on the hotel rooftop. I read people's experience doing this at Sky View Hotel early in the morning in the reviews written by people who had stayed there before on the Internet; and they were all true after all.

We went up the rooftop at about 7:00 a.m. and we were the early birds. At one side, we could see the sky was red as the sun was about to rise above the horizon.

While on the other side, the hot air balloons were already inflated with air and ready to fly above Bagan. We could see the balloons much nearer but from a lower altitude.

Other hotel guests started to arrive for breakfast. However, I believe they were more excited to take photos of the hot air balloons rather than enjoying their food on the tables.

Maybe I should consider putting hot air balloon ride in my bucket list. Although that should be a bit expensive, it could be the experience that money could not buy.

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CHASING HOT AIR BALLOONS DURING SUNRISE IN BAGAN, MYANMAR - PART 2

15th DECEMBER 2019 ~ The activities at Nan-Myint Tower were to observe the panoramic view of Bagan and to snap as many photos as possible. You would be disappointed to find that the view was not as spectacular as all the photos people had posted on social media but that could be: (1) you were not lucky the sky did not turn the colour you had expected; or (2) a lot of photo editing needed to be done so as the make all the images more stunning; or (3) people had been using really good and expensive cameras to shoot all the photos.

People are no longer allowed to climb up any of the pagoda or temple structures in Bagan to take photos as it was dangerous. In the recent earthquake, many ancient buildings were damaged and the prohibition was then imposed.

We stayed at the tower until the sky had turned bright and most of the noisy foreigners had gone down.

We did not have the chance to tour the Aereum Palace Resort. For one thing, this hotel was a golf resort which caters to the needs of the people who have more money to spend on accommodation and other luxurious facilities.

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CHASING HOT AIR BALLOONS DURING SUNRISE IN BAGAN, MYANMAR - PART 1

15TH DECEMBER 2019 ~ We arrived in Bagan at 5:00 a.m., in the cold Sunday morning. The temperature was 17⁰C. We had already got a local tour guide by the name of Mr. Ye Ye and he came to welcome us to Bagan with his friend in their tuk tuk.

Our journey in Bagan started as we hopped into the three-wheeled tuk tuk. The vehicle sped off to Nan-Myint Tower, at Aereum Palaca Resort as we were told that would be the best spot to observe sunrise and the hot air-balloon. There was an entry fee for people to go up the tower (by a lift), and it was USD5 if I am not mistaken.

When we arrived at the viewing deck, it was already crowded with noisy tourists. I will let you guess which country do they come from. They were already busy clicking photos and we quickly went to find and secure the best spot to watch the hot air balloons. Your tolerant level must be very high as these people would simply shove you off to fight for the best view they could get.

Another challenging thing was not to get people's heads and other body parts inside the frames of your photos. Being slightly taller than the average Asian men gave me an advantage.

The balloons were still stationary on the ground as they were still waiting to be filled with hot air before lifted up into the sky.

Then, the balloons started to fly up, higher and higher and sailed across the sky. It was truly a sight to behold. And to think of the thousands miles traveled just for this view, it was worth all the effort.

At one side of the tower, people were busy capturing the brief moment when the sun rose above the horizon.

This should be one of the best spots to get a clearer view of the sunrise and the hot air balloons as topographically speaking, there are no elevated grounds for people to climb to get the bird's eye view of the area.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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