All Asian countries are slightly
crazy. Occupational Health and Safety seems to be non-existent, there are
defiantly no Responsible Service of Alcohol rules and any health inspector
would shut most of the country down. With all of that in mind the “Tuanggyi
Balloon Festival’ takes the prize. It truly ‘one-ups’ everything I have ever
seen or experienced, Burmese people are absolutely nuts!!!!
Tuanggyi is around 1 hour by car
from Inle Lake. Every October/November, depending on the full moon the Balloon
Festival is held. It runs for 5 consecutive nights and locals come from miles
away to compete in the balloon competition. It has a lot of other significance
but with crap-o-la wi fi the above explanation will need to suffice.
I knew the festival was on while
we were there and asked our guide if he would arrange for us to go. I have no
idea what our guides name was as I can barely pronounce English so we will call
him Bob. “Sure, I arrange for you”, “lot of people, no toilets and people have
died, is that OK?” hmmmmm why not……
So off we went, fingers crossed
it would be a happy ending. We arrived and just stared. Picture the Sydney
Easter Show with no rules and over a hundred thousand people drunk, on crack or
just really happy. Thank god for Bob who advised he attended every year and
would lead us around. I would have kissed the ground if I wasn’t scared of
dying 20 minutes later of a disease that hasn’t been discovered yet. We weaved
through hundreds of happy locals, dodged food stalls, pop up beer shops and
kids running in every direction. We came out in a huge field with locals
singing, chanting and dancing.
The first balloons to go up,
according to Bob, weren’t the exciting ones. I however thought they were
brilliant. Thousands of candles were lit and somehow attached to the balloon as
it was filled with hot air from a fire. Off to one side another group were
attaching hundreds more candles in various colours to a bamboo structure. When
the main balloon was upright the bamboo structure was attached to the bottom
and the whole thing floated into the night ski. We clapped and cheered along
with everyone until we realised we were becoming the main attraction. People
requested photos with us, would lightly touch our arms then giggle or try and
take ‘sneaky’ photos. This was now a game for us as well and we tried to jump
into as many photos as we could. Bob was very concerned and worried every time
we would move. Although trying to explain to your boss that you lost a few
western tourists entrusted to you would be a hard call for any guide. When
locals would see me with my camera they would often grab my hand and push my
shoulder to lead me to where they considered I would get the best picture. Bob
of course would freak out at this and run over…..
After the candle balloons floated
away whistles were blown and trucks came driving onto the field. “Fun part now”
Bob advised. Then indicated the clearest path to run if we needed to. WTF. Singing and music continued and another
balloon starting taking shape. Once it was fully inflated an enormous teared
wooden structure covered in 80kg of fireworks was attached, a wick lit and
everyone held their breath. The balloon slowly lifted and suddenly the
fireworks started exploding in every direction. It was fucking insane!!!! But Oh so cool. We
discovered that they send up around 30 balloons each night and party till dawn.
After watching a few we decided to escape while all our limbs were still
attached. By this time we were desperate to go to the loo. Whilst trying to
locate our driver myself and Lucy ducked behind a minivan, we didn’t see the
people sitting in it until we stood…………..
Waiting for the balloons.....
Snack....
Lighting the candles...
Up and away.....
The main event - a firework balloon....
But wait there's more....
Beer anyone?
