Well, all these years later, that day had come.
We were picked up at 5:00 a.m. by a local balloon company and taken to the fields about 15 minutes from our hotel where a couple of dozen hot air balloons were being slowly filled. We found our balloon and hopped in!
[Aside: actually, we didn't exactly "hop in." At the last moment the children sort of balked. Ten feet from the balloon, Maymuna in particular decides this idea was "CRAZY" and wants to stay on the ground. This turns out to be one of the most surreal parenting experiences of my life - do you force your 9 year old to go on a hot air balloon ride??? Turns out that you sort of gloss over the resistance by pointing out some wild ponies in the nearby field and sort of usher her on before she can really think too hard about it.]
The basket is deceptively large, and holds about 20 people, almost all our students came along with us. The ride lasted about an hour, sometimes dipping quite low into valleys, or soaring high for the best views. It is an incredibly peaceful and quiet experience - when they are not filling the balloon with hot air, you are just floating in silence. You could hear birds chirping. We coasted over fields and homes of families just waking up to do their chores, with dogs barking. (I'm sure they are so "over" the hot air balloon thing, I remember thinking to myself...)
It was the ride of a lifetime. It was a beautiful sight to see.
[Aside: actually, we didn't exactly "hop in." At the last moment the children sort of balked. Ten feet from the balloon, Maymuna in particular decides this idea was "CRAZY" and wants to stay on the ground. This turns out to be one of the most surreal parenting experiences of my life - do you force your 9 year old to go on a hot air balloon ride??? Turns out that you sort of gloss over the resistance by pointing out some wild ponies in the nearby field and sort of usher her on before she can really think too hard about it.]
The basket is deceptively large, and holds about 20 people, almost all our students came along with us. The ride lasted about an hour, sometimes dipping quite low into valleys, or soaring high for the best views. It is an incredibly peaceful and quiet experience - when they are not filling the balloon with hot air, you are just floating in silence. You could hear birds chirping. We coasted over fields and homes of families just waking up to do their chores, with dogs barking. (I'm sure they are so "over" the hot air balloon thing, I remember thinking to myself...)
It was the ride of a lifetime. It was a beautiful sight to see.
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| Halfway through the ride, Maymuna decides to review the emergency landing information. |
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