Hot air ballooning in Bagan

Photo Friday—Ancient temples from above

This is one of those things that we look back on and can’t believe we really had the opportunity to do it. Hot air ballooning itself it transpires is fun, but a little bit old person-esque, sedately floating above the ground watching the world slowly drift by below your feet. However add in to the mix waking up before sunrise to watch dawn light up a sandy plain below that hides hundreds of ancient stone temples as you sedately bob about in the sky above and you have a whole different experience.

The one thing we would have done differently if we were to do this again (which we won’t, it was rather expensive) would be to go earlier in the season. We visited at the end of the ballooning season, in the last few days they were operating, so while we were in one of only two balloons in the air, it was also the time of year where the locals burn-off areas for agriculture, so the air was thick with smoke. Rather than getting sunrises or sunsets while we were there, it was more of a gradual lightening or darkening of the sky as the sun climbed above or disappeared below the smoke.

Hot air ballooning above the temples of Bagan.