Depending on who you ask, Old Bagan consists of somewhere between 2400 to 3000 temples. They are amazing to explore on foot, but the best way to capture the magnitude of the setting is to do it by air.
The one thing I insisted on doing during this trip was a hot air balloon ride over Bagan. The experience does not come cheap – approximately $400 per head – but it was so worth it.
There are two main ballooning companies in Bagan: Balloons Over Bagan and Oriental Ballooning. After a bit of research we chose the latter because, while it was slightly more expensive, they supposedly took less people in each basket (8-10 people vs. 10-12, however, we wound up with 11 passengers anyway).
When it was all said and done, both companies, along with a third – Golden Eagle – appeared to offer very similar experiences and in fact share the same take-off and landing spots. And because your flight pattern is almost entirely dependent on the wind, all balloons travel a similar path.
The day starts very early with a hotel pick-up from the company van at approximately 5-5:30am. From there, we were taking out to a field where apparently all the balloon-riders assembled, regardless of the company. While still in the dark, the balloon companies provided a small breakfast of pastries, fruit, coffee and tea.
As the sun began rising, we finally caught glimpses of the giant balloons – still mostly deflated and lying flat on the ground. However, one by one, each balloon took shape, which turned out to be quite an entertaining show in and of itself. After locating our balloon and operator, we were given some basic safety instructions and divvied up to be evenly distributed within our basket.
We lucked out with a perfect weather day! Sometimes, particularly earlier in the ballooning season (October to early-November) trips will be cancelled do to uncooperative weather. We met a couple who had made a booking for October of the previous year, only to have it cancelled.
I can’t image how else to fully appreciate the sheer size and majesty of Bagan’s temples but to see it by air. I believe the pictures speak from themselves (all shot from my iPhone, btw, as our big boy camera would not fit on our carry-on only luggage that had to hold us over on a three-week trip).
The air journey lasted approximately 45-minutes. Since landing was somewhat dependent on where the wind carried you, most balloons landed in the same general open field area, although there was no way to pick your precise landing spot.
After safely returning to the ground, we were offered fruit and champagne and presented with flight certificates and souvenir hats before being driven back to our respective hotels in time to make our real hotel breakfast offerings.
The Details:
Oriental Ballooning, Bagan
Price: $400 per person
Time: 45 min to 1 hour in air; 3-4 hours total
What to Bring: Jacket, camera, toilet paper/Kleenex (for one last pre-flight bathroom break), cash tip for your balloon operator (if desired).
