This morning I had a chance to go up in a hot air balloon at the festival that is taking place at the moment in Nakhon Nayok. I was assigned to balloon number 2 whose pilot is Barry from the UK. We met up with all 20 pilots at Nakhon Nayok Stadium shortly after sunrise. The weather was a bit chilly with a cool wind.
A hot air balloon needs some wind in order to move, but too much can be dangerous. Some of the pilots quickly unpacked their balloons and started to use fans and then gas burners to blow them up. Others like Barry, my pilot, were being more cautious as it was already quite windy. Maybe too much.
Some of the first balloons started going up within half an hour but I could see how badly they were being knocked around. There were some near misses of the pick-up trucks. During the short time that we were there, the wind picked up even more. Some pilots then made the decision not to go up.
Barry explained to me that going up wasn’t the main problem. It was the landing. If there was a strong wind the balloon wouldn’t go straight down but could be dragged along the ground. He said the paddy fields around here aren’t very big and there are many obstacles that the balloon could crash into. So it would be dangerous for the pilot and passengers.
After Barry made the decision not to fly, another pilot offered to take me up. However after ten minutes of blowing up the balloon he too decided that it would be unwise to fly. Of course I was disappointed but I know also that they had made the right decision. It’s not worth gambling with our lives just for a balloon flight. And of course the balloon itself is very expensive.
I am hoping that I will have a second chance tomorrow morning to go up in a balloon. Let’s hope it’s not so windy. You just never know.
- Posted from my iPhone
better than KFC and McDonalds lol but the name...