Hot Air Balloon Ride, Vang Vieng || Laos

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog! Today I come to you with the story of my first ever air flight (other than plane!) in a Hot Air Balloon in Vang Vieng, Laos. This is usually a thing in many wanderlust people’s list and it is surely a very special thing to experience.

Imagine if on top of that you happen to experience this in your birthday. That’s right! I had this experience on my 22 birthday last October while I was travelling Southeast Asia.

If you’d like watch the story on youtube, Cecy’s Whimsical Journey:

My birthday present

This was my boyfriend’s birthday gift (so thanks to him this was all possible to begin with). Jono had told me it was his idea to made it to Vang Vieng on my birthday to celebrate there. Although we took a longer way to go from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Luang Prabang, Laos (We took the Slow Boat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang). So we didn’t exactly make it for my birthday.

Days before the Riding – Luang Prabang

For my birthday, on the 3rd, we had a really nice dinner at Pizza Phan Luang which was super nice. Funny enough, even though it wasn’t the Hot Air Balloon yet we did have a little bit of an adventure to get there as the previous rainy season blow away the bridge to cross the Nam Khan River (as every year does).

So we had to “employ” the service of a free Long Tail Boat to take us to the other side at night and the boat man struggled to get it working while we floated away from the shore for about 10 to 20 min being dragged by the current! Story for another day though!

Finally in Vang Vieng

After a few days staying in Luang Prabang and already at two and a half months of travel we were chilling in Vang Vieng. The day before we went to visit the Pha Ngern View Point and this day we decided to do nothing and relax in the hotel while we waited for the pick up time.

The Hot Air Balloon Experience

When the time came, we were picked up from the hotel and drove to pick up another couple that was going to ride with us. When we arrived everything was so quick. I was excited and I thought that I would have the chance to see how they filled up the balloon and take some pictures. The balloon was already filled with air and ready to ride though.

When we arrived we got out of the truck and almost in the same instant the people from the ride indicated us to go towards the balloon and start “boarding”.

As you may know, the balloon basket doesn’t usually have doors so you have to jump and get in from the top with the aid of some square holes on the side as stairs. The basket was also suuuper small, specially because we were riding with the other couple. We couldn’t really move much and to take photos or record we had to get as close as possible to the basket’s walls.

While watching other videos and balloons I think this size is a normal one specially because we were there in low season so I think if they have bigger balloons they probably use them for the high season.

Riding through Vang Vieng skies

Without a doubt Vang Vieng is one of the most beautiful places I could think of for riding a hot air balloon. On top of that is cheap due to the rate of Lao’s Kip (₭).

Usually the options for riding would be at sunrise or sunset and any of them would be beautiful. The mist in the landscape is a mist that reflects the mysteries and beauty of this culture.

Riding Vang Vieng Skies is just magical.

“Let your dreams take flight.”

Thanks to my amazing boyfriend Jono

For this experience and for a year together. For being my companion, my friend and my confident. My partner in crime, personal photographer, emotional counselor and support.

For experiencing the world together, for learning and growing with me, allowing me to try new things and grow and for trying them with me.
For this and a thousand reasons more I love you!

Thank you for reading! Don’t forget to check out my social media for more content and stay tuned for more upcoming Laos, Southeast Asia and New Zealand travel videos & blogs.