20 professional hot air balloon pilots from around the world will be taking passengers on balloon rides above Sentul City. (AFP Photo)
For most Indonesians, a balloon ride is, well, nothing but hot air. It’s the sort of thing associated with children’s books and other flights of pure fancy.
This weekend, however, dreams of soaring among the clouds can become reality at the First Indonesian Hot Air Balloon Adventure, which is taking place in Sentul City, Bogor.
For three days starting this Friday, 20 professional hot air balloon pilots from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand will be taking passengers on balloon rides above Sentul City, some 34 kilometers from Jakarta’s Central Business District.
“There will be some pilots from Indonesia too, but we’re still waiting for confirmation,” said Maria, a representative of PT Beraksi Komunikasi, the company that is organizing the event.
Also helping to put on the event is the Indonesian Aero Sport Federation (FASI) and PT Adi Wahana Angkasa Nusantara, also known as Awan Balloons, a private company that offers hot air balloon rides in the country.
“We aim to promote the beauty of Indonesia as seen from the skies,” Maria said. “We are hoping that the pilots [who will be coming to the event] can help spread the word about our country’s beauty among other pilots, so they too come here and fly.”
Maria said Sentul City was chosen as the venue because of the open fields in the area. “There are lots of high-rise buildings in Jakarta, which would make flying or landing difficult,” she said.
This is not the first hot air balloon event Beraksi Komunikasi has organized. In mid-November last year, the company arranged special mass weddings for low-income couples in Lampung and Palembang, both in Sumatra. Fifty couples exchanged their wedding vows up in the air, accompanied by an officer from the local registry office, a witness and a pilot.
“We not only helped those who could not afford to get married, we also gave them an extraordinary experience,” said Fitriandini “Fitri” Arif, who is also from the event organizer.
At this weekend’s event, anyone with a healthy heart and who is not pregnant can go for a balloon ride. Another requirement is that the passenger should be at least 120 centimeters tall, or taller than the hot air balloon’s basket. “This is for safety reasons,” Fitri said in reply to interested inquiries on the event’s Facebook page.
The hot air balloon will fly twice a day, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., when the weather is stable.
“This is also to follow the times of the sunrise and sunset,” Fitri said. “This will create an extraordinarily beautiful view that one can see while in the balloon.”
A 10-minute ride with the balloon tethered to the ground costs Rp 100,000 ($10). Those who want to really soar will have to hand over Rp 5 million. All prices include insurance.
“The VIP balloon ride will fly as far as five kilometers in about an hour,” said Ine, from Beraksi Komunikasi. “The direction depends on where the wind blows.”
She said only five people had registered for the VIP balloon ride so far.
Organizers hope the festival becomes an annual event.
Rizky F Arbali, from Awan Balloons, said in a press release that he hoped the festival would put Indonesia on the map as a major destination for hot air balloons and their enthusiasts.
“It is not impossible, as the world’s hot air balloon community considers the weather in Indonesia to be the most suitable for hot air ballooning,” he said.
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