Fly a hot air balloon in Myanmar

“We slowly began to rise and it was so smooth that it felt like we were in a room moving through the sky. I’m terrified of heights and didn’t even feel a tinge of fear. The flight started off low just above the trees. [...] We turned behind us to see the sun breaking free over the mountains in the distance. I wish I could say that the view was breathtaking or that it was so beautiful it left me speechless, but that wouldn’t be true. In fact, I had a lot to say. I was pointing in every direction and smiling like a fool. [...] Cows pulled plows through the fields below us. A village was blasting music way too loud for 7am. Birds soared through the trees. It was all sort of surreal.”

“Our morning started before sunrise, when we were picked up from our hotel. By antique bus we were driven to the take off point, a field located just outside of Old Bagan. We had coffee and cookies and watched as about ten balloons were inflated with air and then heated by the balloon’s furnace. As the sun rose, our balloon soundlessly lifted off of the ground. Our journey had begun. A morning mist covered the ground, making the landscape look magical. [...] For forty-five minutes we floated over Bagan. Below us were over 2000 Buddhist and Hindu temples, farms of cotton and peanuts, and hundreds of palm trees.”

“Our balloon rose steadily into the air with the other balloons as the panoramic views materialize around us. The basket beneath my feet felt surprisingly steady as I gazed over the edge, clutching my camera, my eyes bursting from my skull like a cartoon emoji seeing love for the first time.”