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AndrewParker
‘balloons’ into theThai state as part of aUNICEF initiative to help
childrenwith special needs.
52 | FireFlyz
JOURNEY
T
he
drive from Vien-
tiane, Laos, early in the
morning to Chiang Mai,
Thailand took quite a bit
longer than planned go-
ing through the border as
people were heading into
Thailand for the weekend. I got caught
up in the rush, which made the time total
approximately to two and a half hours to
get through.
I decided not to take the main road to
Chiang Mai, but a road further north. It
was interesting to go through the many
villages, then a national park, complete
with ‘beware of elephants’ signs. The
area is quite mountainous with beautiful
forests covering them. Some had temples
Chiang Mai Calling
on top and the wisps of cloud around the
hills made it feel dreamy.
Whilst the hills made the driving
slower than expected, it allowed me to
enjoy the view more. The road is being
upgraded and soon, it will be much easier
to travel on as it will be much wider and
smoother.
I arrived into Chiang Mai after dark
and found the ‘909 Balloon Resort’, which
my host Thailand Balloon Adventure,
was based.
The next daywas spent looking around
the flying area and I was taken to a
local restaurant for dinner. We sat out
in the open and enjoyed the food and
atmosphere.
We left in the morning the following
day to get to the balloon launch site on
the outskirts of Chiang Mai. The balloon
was set up efficiently with the help of
some local crew, and we took to the
skies. It a my first time flying a balloon in
Thailand, and I enjoyed the views of the
many rice paddies, temples, villages and
surrounding mountains.
After 30mins of flying I saw a big, dry
field, (which are few and far between
given the number of flooded rice paddies
at that time of year) and decided to land
there. The crew was there and we gently
came back to earth and packed the bal-
loon. It was a great first flight.
Later that day we headed into town
to check out the Three Kings Monument
Square in the heart of Chiang Mai, where
Children holding postcards from children in
new Zealand and Australia