Taunggyi is the capital city of Shan State, Myanmar and is located on plateau, around 1 hour drive from Nyaung Shwe, the closest town near Inle Lake. Every year, a major Balloon Festival is organized here attracting thousands of local citizens and tourists to participate. Very lucky that we visited Myanmar at this right moment of the year so we tried everything we could do to attend this fiesta. The essence of this Balloon Festival is flying giant balloons in the sky. The festival opens almost all day long exhibiting animal-shaped balloons in the day and something more special in the evening! Journey to the venue: The traffic around the venue was absolutely bustling, filled with many 'party animals'. In the packed tuk-tuks bypassing us, we often could count two rows of passengers with two or three more standing at the back, plus a few on top, very over-the-top. However this truly excited us even more so for the party! The closer we were to the venue, the more traffic policemen we met on the way. Projection lights were the first things we could see from far away, nearly as bright as The Symphony of Lights. A few more twists and bends on the road up hill, we were just about to peek through bushes and spotted ferris wheels and galleon rides! Then we realized it wasn't just a Balloon Festival, but a Balloon 'Carnival'! There are two types of balloons for evening session: candle-lit and fireworks which irregularly took off from evening until 4am in the morning. Most of the balloons we saw were Buddhism-themed sponsored by local Burmese brands. For the candle-lit balloons, young people hung tiny and colourful candle lanterns all around the big balloons with a huge drop (approximately ten feet tall) composed of more candle lanterns. After all lanterns were hung, people started to heat up the huge balloon to fly it up to the sky. 點擊圖片放大 +2 Not until the balloon is up and the drop flows vertically audience cannot see the complete image and pattern on the balloon. One of the candle lantern drops looks like a grand chandelier which was totally mesmerising. 點擊圖片放大 Once every single balloon was up, the crew went heavenly blessed and crazily danced along the live beats and rhythms! All thrilled and a bit drunk. No doubt that the Fireworks Balloon was the most anticipated for the evening. Unlike candle-lit balloons, this larger balloon didn’t attach with a long drop but a big and heavy box. Only a few moments after it took off we knew what that was! Fireworks blasted out from the box which was multiple layers of fireworks as balloon kept ascending for more than 5 minutes until it was lost in human sight. Our driver told us every piece of firework balloon costs 200K US dollars! 點擊圖片放大 +2 In views of the potential risks from firework balloons, a designated bungalow was set up far from the main site specially for foreign tourists. However the viewing angle from ground was better and unobstructed from the bungalow roof. The balloon got shrank as it ascended but firework still exploded periodically like shooting stars or blossoming flowers. Not as grand and abundant as usual fireworks but definitely unique and innovative! We were told by guards that the last balloon would take off at 4am but we had to make a move as committed to join a tour the next morning. By the time we left, an even bigger crowd flocked in to the venue...may have made an even greater party scene! The journey back hotel was awesome too. As the hotel I stayed at is located in the middle of the Inle Lake in which no sailing lights was available, our tour agent could not guarantee we could take a boat back. At last, the deal was agreed and Thu Thu has arranged our boat guide to provide extra night-time service to fetch us. Along the channel and on the lake, there was hardly any light and sound (except from the boat motor) and surface was very calm. The full moon guided us and shone on lake surface, so bright that we could even read! Countless stars were shining in clear sky and we could spot night fishermen working so silently around the lake. I am sure this isn't ordinary scene that you could see on Inle Lake at day time! This is just an unforgettable moment in life!
