The 7^th International Balloon Meeting has already been underway in the environs of Nyaung Shwe and Inaly Lake of the Shan State. The meeting is going to be continued in Mandalay, the hub of Myanma cultural heritage.

Since 1999, the balloon meeting has been going on in Myanmar for the 7^th consecutive year. It’s no surprise that Myanmar is the land of peace, tranquility, rich in cultural heritage, affable customs and scenic beauty.

Mandalay, the last royal city, also known as Yadanabon meaning rich gems city is situated in Central Myanmar. Moreover, it is renowned for its ancient edifices, beautiful work of arts and handicrafts.

It is a frequented tourist destination and so international balloonists led by Peter Blaser chose the place for ballooning.

Under the beautiful morning sun rays, with Taung Thaman Lake and U Pein bridge in the backdrop… Peter Blaser selects the sandbank near the bridge as the starting point. All the participants are excited to fly over Mandalay and they’re busy preparing their baskets and balloons.

Thanks to favourable weather and wind speed, it’s perfect for ballooning. Step by step, the balloons are inflated with air then with gas. At the same time, the pilots are busy checking and counterchecking for flight security.

Very soon, all the balloons are ready to take off. After greeting to the crowd, the balloons gradually lift off one by one.

The scene of balloons drifting across Taung Thaman Lake is really amazing. All the participants are now enjoying the bird’s eye view of Mandalay scenery and I’m sure all of them are daydreaming endlessly.

It’s a new sensation to enjoy the scenic beauty while ballooning.

As the balloons fly over the houses, people just come out and shout the greetings of Mingalabar! You can hear nonstop Mingalabar greetings on the way. Myanmar people are very frank and open-hearted and they are not bothered to help visitors when they are in need at anytime, anywhere.

After drifting across the expansive sky, following the wind direction, our balloon has a few gas left to go so it’s time for landing.

You’ll see, some balloons are now trying to land on the ground. There, you see, one of the balloons has just landed on the roadside with slight difficulty. Look …. the safe landing by other balloons.

Fortunately, our balloon has just touched down very smoothly. Oh … a large crowd of people are waiting happily and cheering up our crew.

As soon as the balloon is on the ground, the children, young and old, all come out and give assistance. All the crew members are very delighted for the warm welcome of cheers and smiles by the people.

International balloonists will regularly pay visit to Myanmar every year as they’ve beautiful memories of smogless sky and enchanting smiles of Myanmar people. MRTV-3 will also present more and more adventurous ballooning over beautiful places in Myanmar.