Inle Lake, A Bird’s-Eye View

• The 5am transfer guarantees you’ll escape other tourists and enjoy the lake for yourself.
• Whilst waiting for the balloon’s canopy to inflate, enjoy a hot beverage and some pastries.
• Learn about the technicalities of a hot-air balloon as a thorough safety briefing is carried out.
• Take to the skies and experience a side of Inle Lake that very few will.
• Land in a random area, thus ensuring you’ll have your very own adventure story to tell.

Oriental Ballooning will contact you the morning before the excursion to confirm pick-up time. Depending on location, this will be approximately 06:00 if not a little bit earlier. Your location will also determine the method of transportation used to escort you to the launch site – a boat will be used for lakeside properties and a car for any located in Nyaung Shwe.

Shortly after arriving at the launch site, you’ll receive a personal introduction from your experienced pilot, who will usher you to a makeshift table for a hot beverage and some early morning nibbles.

Once the balloon’s canopy has been inflated and a comprehensive safety briefing carried out, you’ll be invited to climb inside the basket and prepare yourself for take-off. After the balloon has lifted a safe distance from the ground, wave goodbye to the Oriental Ballooning crew and the excited children who can always be counted on to make an appearance.

It won’t be long until you’re up in the skies enjoying a unique perspective of the lake’s wonderfully green, tranquil and natural surrounds. With uninterrupted views of the mountains to the side, rows of floating gardens to the bottom and one-legged rowers hard at work in the distance, you’ll quickly get a sense that you’re one of the lucky few. Don’t forget to should “Mingalarbar!” as you fly over the villages – you’ll be sure to notice a lot of people looking up in amazement.

As with any hot-air balloon experience, the direction of the wind dictates the course of your journey. The pilot has the option of climbing or descending into winds going different directions, but there is only so much they can do to control this. Given the region’s varied terrain, this makes the journey even more exciting seeing as there’s no way of accurately predicting where you’ll end up.

As viable landing options start to run out, the pilot will start to slowly descend, eventually landing the balloon in a safe clearing. With the crew having followed the balloon for the entire duration, they will be ready and waiting to help control the balloon and pack it away. Whilst this is going on, passengers will be treated to some juice, fresh fruit and a sparkling glass of wine – it is customary for the pilot to pop open a bottle after the successful completion of a flight.

Unless you have subsequent touring planned, Oriental Ballooning will transfer you back to your accommodation. Those with touring planned will be met by their guide and driver (Oriental Ballooning’s team communicate with them throughout).

• Any meals
• Accommodation
• Inle Lake zone fee

• Oriental Balloon’s baskets and canopies are made by Cameron Balloons Ltd. Bristol (UK). All of the pilots have UK-issued licenses.
• This is a shared experience, although it’s possible to pay a premium for it to be private.
• Hot-air balloons operate in Inle Lake from mid-October until mid-March.
• Flights usually start a few minutes after sunrise. The actual take-off time will depend on many factors, including weather conditions, air traffic control permission, local regulations and passenger timeliness.
• Please don’t think us rude by asking but it will be necessary for all passengers to provide their body weight at the time of booking. Any passenger that is over 125 kg / 280 pounds will be asked to pay a 100% surcharge on the ticket price. Due to health and safety precautions, there is no way of getting around this.
• Children under the age of 8 years old are not permitted to fly. Children aged between 8 and 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
• In the interest of safety, Oriental Ballooning reserves the right to cancel or delay flights, and to change launch sites at very short notice.