The sky has a shade of warm blue that morning but the sight of colorful balloons of different shapes and sizes (depending on how high and far they are from where I was standing) gave a different story of the usual “view from the top”.

I was standing in a wicker basket of one of the 41 hot air balloons in Lubao International Hot Air Balloon Festival 2016. Our balloon is not your usual balloon with colorful design – it is a gigantic Japanese Balloon – the Saga Ebisu. 

How I got in and up high in the air is an interesting story. How we got to Lubao at 5:00 in the morning is another story.

When we initially received the invite, we thought that it was just for the usual “viewing”.

It was only after we finished breakfast that we found out that we got VIP Access to fly!

I was torn between excitement and scare.

But since I have mastered the art of faking confidence, I faked it after saying a short prayer.

Funny how we thought we can all go on one balloon and we can take photos together – but that didn’t happen. One wicker basket can only accommodate 3 to 4 pax.

It was a struggle to get inside the wicker basket and much more struggling to stand properly because I was tall and the burner was just on top of my head.

As we waited for the perfect timing to fly – my thoughts were filled with:

I chose to put paranoia behind and just thought of a good game plan how to take photos.

The next thing I know – we were already ascending.

It was a different feeling when you see the ground leaving your sight, and everyone was just looking at you. I wanted to wave goodbye but I just thought I would let the camera roll and start recording my feelings.

I was scared. I feel that it is much more scary than sky diving because – seriously, there’s nothing to hold you firmly inside the basket or something to save you when something goes wrong.

Read: My Sky Diving Experience

As we ascended further and higher, I started to relax. Once again, I was on top of the world. Okay, I was on top of Lubao, Pampanga.

I would have wanted to ask my Pilot and co-Pilot to take a photo of me but I chose not to bother them with their thing. They were talking as if there’s something wrong with the flight (I wish I knew how to speak Japanese!). The sound of the two-way radio and the beeping sound of the machines in the basket were not helping. At least, the view was calming – and I thought:

This is not in my bucketlist. But here I am again, having experience life. Hashtag blessed. 

When it was time to land, we saw some locals waiving at us and I felt like a celebrity. I waved back 🙂

A few times we descended and ascended – probably my Pilot was looking for the perfect spot to land. When they finally found the perfect spot, my Pilot asked me to bend my knees as he pulled the string and we finally landed – safe and sound. It was a smooth hot air balloon landing. I heard that some hot air balloon landings are bad that it can toppled over.

Aside from breathtaking hot-air balloon flights and aerial exhibitions, the festival will include fun on-ground entertainment such as street activities, land exhibits, and exciting musical performances by top Filipino artists such as Ely Buendia, Bamboo, True Faith, Sabado Boys and Mitoy&D’Draybers.




I have updated this blog post to share the 2018 Lubao International Hot Air Balloon Activities. Check out below for the schedule of events!

 

There’s food fair where you can buy Pampanga’s delicacies and goodies + lots of good spots to take your OOTD’s 🙂

From Manila, take Victory Liner, Genesis or Five Star (with terminals in Pasay and Cubao) buses heading to Bataan. You can check out ride options via this site. Travel time is 2.5 hours.

If you are driving, make sure that you enter Pradera Wake Park in Waze.

Thank you for having us! Such an amazing experience!