Joe Louis watches hot air balloons
People in Myanmar villages work all day and sleep at night. They wake up at the crack of dawn to harvest rice or graze oxen. They don’t have weekends off. So when a festival rolls around, it’s finally time to have some fun. For this reason we were very excited for the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival.
Around 9pm a large crowd formed in the field and people drank Myanmar Beer and chewed on beetle nuts. They started to send up hot air balloons every half an hour or so. But this wasn’t an organized, orderly process. Balloooners would basically light a fire under a balloon until it started to lift. If it didn’t get up high enough they would chase the flaming balloon and light it some more. After the balloon made it to the sky it would float for a while as everyone admired it from their terrestrial viewpoints. Then, thirty minutes later as the laws of gravity kicked in, the burning balloon would fall back down to the earth, wherever it happened to be. It was usually in the heart of the crowd. This was really cool. Every half an hour a mob would start running and you wouldn’t know why until you remembered where you were. Oh yeah a balloon lit on fire is falling from the sky again. BETTER RUN!
We had a good spot with a good view of the balloons but away from the typical drop zone. We hung out with some soldiers and their buddies for a few hours.
Tom and I spent a good amount of time talking to a young, friendly captain in the army. It wasn’t so easy to understand him and he evaded some questions but we figured out that he was educated in Moscow, loved tourists, and expected us to take care of him when he visited our homelands. When we pressed him further on his studies, he reluctantly revealed that he studied nuclear physics on behalf of the army. Um.
I hope I don’t see “Burma Gets the Bomb” in papers any time soon. They would probably just fire it up and let it land anywhere gravity took it. In fifteen years this festival is gonna be really crazy.
For now I’ll just enjoy the fiery balloons and live to smile about it without any radioactive repercussions.
Tyaunggi, Myanmar
It’s a date
Check the calendar before going to a new country. Most festivals occur at the same time each year (ones that follow the lunar calendar may shift around a bit). You may want to adjust your schedule to specifically accommodate a festival. Had I known about the Chinese ice festival in Harbin, I may have started my Chinese trip a bit more north.
Plan ahead
Festivals are fun times but aren’t stress free. Logistics can get hairy, especially as locals and foreigners both teem in one location. Book accommodations in advance and look into how to get in and out of the location. In Tyaunggi we hired a cab for the day to avoid the rush to find a late night taxi.
Be prepared
Know what you are getting into. The water festival in Laos and nearby countries, Songkram, looks like a literal blast. Wear a swimsuit and sandals and don’t show up in a seude sports coat.
Be cautious
Crowded areas are prime stomping grounds for pickpockets. Carnivale in Brazil is known for purse snatchers and the like. Only carry what you need and be aware.
Before and after
Sometimes the preparations and postactivities for a festival are also fun. In the week leading up to the Laos boat festival, Boun Awk Punsa, we watched as all the townspeople built model boats on their lawns, slowly adding more and more decorations until the day of the race came.
The wrong one
Make sure the festival is one you actually want to participate in. I accidentally visited Buenos Aires during Semanos Santos when markets and clubs are all closed for the Easter week.
