THE hot-air balloon ride services in Bagan ancient city, often referred to as the heart of Myanmar, are available every year to boost the image of Bagan to the world.
In the dry season, Myanmar hosts local and foreign travellers like ASEAN countries, and the tourist arrivals to Mount Popa and Bagan are the highest. Bagan was crowded with the start of the Thadingyut Festival in October and is still receiving a high number of tourists in November. Meanwhile, the visitors can enjoy the beauty of Bagan from the Bagan viewing tower (Nan Myint Tower) and designated mounds and the hot-air balloon companies offer services to enjoy breathtaking views of the city from the sky.
The ASEAN countries have many world cultural heritage sites, but they do not have several land areas to view the scene with balloon rides. Meanwhile, Bagan boasts 3,822 ancient pagodas, stupas and temples, and the tourists like balloon rides as they can enjoy the views of the whole city from the sky.
The hot air balloon ride services are available for both local and international tourists in the Bagan region to enjoy Myanmar’s ancient cultural heritage, including pagodas, temples, statues, and the region’s natural beauty like picturesque scenes of winter morning, Ayeyawady river, mountains, fields and forests, ancient pagodas featuring artworks of AD 9th century.
"We offer hot-air balloon rides to share the beauty and cultural heritages of Bagan to the tourists and to lure more travellers as part of the development of the tourism industry. BOB company has been offering balloon rides since 1999, and now it reaches 25 years. There are over 500 flies from the Thadingyut Festival, October to date. The service is available until 31 March. Although some ASEAN countries have balloon ride services, they cannot be comparable to the beauty of Myanmar's Bagan. Every tourist who took a balloon ride commented positively on the cultural zone's natural beauty. We warmly welcome all to visit Myanmar to fully enjoy the beauty of Bagan where the ancient cultural heritages are concentrated," said an official of Ballooning Over Bagan.
Four companies offer balloon rides every year, and they launch balloons depending on the number of passengers. The balloon's compartment can hold 8 to 16 passengers and experienced foreign pilots fly the balloons. Local and foreign travellers can take a cheap balloon ride.
Moreover, these services can promote tourism and create job opportunities for vendors and locals. Efforts are being made collectively to promote the Bagan cultural zone to the world through hot-air balloon rides of international standards, enabling greater recognition to visit Bagan. — Thitsa (MNA)/ KTZH
