Three thirty-five before the alarm clock rings, excited and in anticipation of the pending adventure. After a rather long and uneventful journey by bus, my friend and I arrived in Dambulla the previous night, had dinner and then phoned Shevaan Jayasinghe to let him know we were in town ready to fly early next morning. We are told the launch site may change from Dambulla to Sigiriya and asked to phone at 5 a.m. the next morning.
It’s 5 a.m. we are dressed and the trishaw has already arrived to take us to our yet unknown destination. Shevaan phones to check and asks me to phone his father, Captain Anil Jayasinghe, President of the Ceylon Airship and Balloon Club and organiser of the Sri Lanka Balloon Festival 2011. A quick phone call to Captain Jayasinghe at the Sigiriya Air Force Base confirms the wind speed and direction are not suitable to launch from there. He asks us to come to the launch site in Dambulla, a mere two kilometers from our hotel.
Held for the 4th time since 2003, the
Sri Lanka Balloon Festival 2011 was on from March 19 to April 2 with 15 hot air balloons from around the world taking to the skies near Sigiriya and Dambulla. |
The cool crisp morning air hits our faces as we make the five minute journey by trishaw to the School of Agriculture grounds in Pelwehera, Dambulla. 5.15 am and we are the first to arrive at the launch site.
We admire the beautiful crescent moon and twinkling stars in the clear pre-dawn sky. Minutes later a red jeep followed by a trailer containing balloons and baskets, a lorry with gas canisters and several more vehicles with people arrive.
The gas canisters are carefully unloaded from the back of the lorry in the middle of the ground and the crew all dressed in black T shirts, get to work to off-load the packed balloons and wicker baskets from the trailer.
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That’s my ride! |
We introduce ourselves to Captain Jayasinghe who gets down to business right away. With the assistance of a crew member he launches a small gas filled balloon to check the wind speed and direction. It’s satisfactory and apparently the same as the previous day. We are good to launch! Then he proceeds to check individually the fans that are used to inflate the balloons. All are working well.
Within a few minutes the entire ground is a hub of activity.
As the Sun slowly rises on the horizon and peeps through the trees, packed balloons are carried by teams of participants to the edges of the ground, unpacked, attached to their baskets and partially inflated with cold air using the powerful fans.
The gas burners are lit and the nozzles direct the searing flames like a blow torch into the balloons to heat the air to make them rise. Soon the entire ground is covered in balloons of all shades of colour. Several foreign teams assemble their balloons while an international film crew document the literally ‘unfolding’ event. Curious adults and children living in the vicinity approach the colourful rising giants for a closer look.
Four Sri Lanka Army Commandos all suited up stand ready to join us shortly. Two of them will skydive from our balloon and the cameras on their helmets record the incredible plunge to the ground from four thousand feet!
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| Justin our pilot |
A couple of balloons take to the sky and I wish the crews a safe and pleasant flight. And then, it’s our turn! I race across the field and scramble onboard our ‘Jumbo’ balloon as it prepares to launch. The basket can comfortably accommodate 16 and is almost full.
My friend and I meet our fellow passengers: Justin Moore, our pilot for the flight, a young Iranian family with a kid, a young couple from the U.S., three ladies from the UK, three local professional photographers and two of the four army commandos I met earlier.
Justin briefs us about the safety procedures and then our balloon is slowly pushed by several crew members to the edge of the ground, like an aircraft taxing to the runway for take-off. We’re wished the best and after a few short flame bursts from the nozzles we’re off the ground, rising straight upwards amid the exclamations of wonder and delight of all onboard.
The balloon rises fast on this calm morning, though a light haze hampers a clear view of the surrounding countryside, stretching for miles in every direction. Nevertheless, it’s still a breathtaking view of the scenic beauty of Sri Lanka! Justin points out some of the landmarks including the Sigiriya Rock and Adam’s Peak in the distance. Before long, we rise to four thousand feet and the two commandos climb out, say a quick goodbye and let go one after the other.
They are gone in a split second amid the ‘ah’s and ‘oo’s of all aboard. The cameras rapidly click away while I video the amazing event to be uploaded to YouTube later. We look down over the side of the basket and after a few seconds (which seemed like an eternity) deployed as they corkscrew gracefully toward the ground far below. We descend to a lower altitude to take in the spectacular views and pass over tress, paddy fields, lakes, swamps, a coconut plantation and houses.
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| Self portrait |
People come out of
their homes and shops to look upward at us. We wave to them and they wave back. The shadow of the balloon glides silently like a slithering snake across boulders, fields, lakes and the land below. It’s an awesome sight! The flight in excellent weather lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes before we land gently in a disused paddy field, to the pleasant surprise of some of the local villagers who turn up to watch.
The retrieval crew who followed us throughout our journey approach and gently push the basket across the grass towards the lorry parked nearby. We disembark and celebrate our successful and memorable flight with a glass of Champagne.
A friend of mine who experienced this in 2008 said, ‘everyone should try this at least once in their lifetime’ and I agree. It’s an unforgettable adventure, an amazing experience and one for the bucket list for sure!
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