Full of Hot Air

Sometimes you see an opportunity and have to jump on it. This time I saw the opportunity to go on a hot air balloon and couldn’t make up my mind. Vang Vieng has the beautiful scenery to do this, but it was definitely a budget buster. Then I realized I could float in the sky for an hour for less money than I used to spend on a tank of gas back home. This was a no brainer!

The adventure starts early in the morning before sunrise. We got to our launch pad just to see the balloons lying flat on the ground.

Using gas powered fans the crew started blowing air into the balloon to fill it up.

Once they are mostly full they fire up the burner. 

Next thing you know you are up in the air floating away.

The pilot controls altitude by applying more or less heat to the ballon. At different altitudes we could go in different directions and he had great control of where to go. The flame is quite mighty and loud. 

The views were amazing and it was a great experience.

Jim joined me for the ride. It was his first time in a hot air balloon although I suspect he has been full of hot air before.

From the air we can see how colorful Vang Vieng really is.

And we got to experience sunrise in our basket as well.

When it was time to land the pilot threw a leash to the chase crew and they placed us exactly where they wanted us to be.

Even at the end of the ride while landing, the scenery was beautiful. 

Eventually they deflate the balloon. Notice how the color fades away once you let the air out.

Finally, the crew packs the balloon away for another ride.

No, they don’t change colors. I just didn’t get to go on the pretty one :p