A gentle breeze guides our sky vehicle as we witnessed the sun taking its time to rise over Udaipur today morning. This experience was provided by the latest waltz in town, Sky Waltz. Sky Waltz is the only Indian company operating Hot Air Balloon Safari in India.  With their over a dozen trained pilots, of whom most are internationally renowned, each pilot holds at least 2,000 flying hours under their cap.  Sky Waltz has now begun the Hot Air Balloon Safari in the city of lakes, which will give an entirely unique experience to the tourists who are keen to witness the scenic beauty of the valley of Udaipur.

Our ride began today morning at 6:30, after we assembled at the Field Club gates and were driven to the take off rendezvous at a ground in Bedla.  Treated to hot tea in the cold misty winter morning, this was a perfect start to the hot air experience in the cold weather.

The tech team assessed the wind speed and direction, before beginning the gas pumping in the balloon, getting it ready to waltz us up into the skies.

Piloted by the warm, friendly and experienced Francisco Wout from the Netherlands, our troupe of 7 took off in the unconventional style…with the Balloon skidding and then floating its way up, guided by the light breeze and pushed up by the hot air pumped into its belly.

This was the pre-sun rise moment, when the entire city was clouded by the morning mist.  Francisco was keen on explaining how the entire procedure worked and explained to all of us present, the reasons for the constant blow up of hot air, the rope pulls and movements and the landing cycle, which got us enough information to carry back home.

Amazing views of the valley town, eagles eye view of the Neemuchmata Mandir, Sajjangarh and the twin sisters – Fatehsagar and Pichola left us in awe.  Our flight, which began in Bedla, took us westwards towards Badi, and while crossing Badgaon and Tiger Hills, we got a great glimpse of the twin mountains the the new Rana Pratap Smarak.  Francisco inquired about the Pratap monument and this time it was our turn to give gyaan.

Landing was as smooth as the take off, and with Francisco maneuvering the landing ropes and air pressure, we did a great landing in the middle of the village.  Now, a Hot Air Balloon landing in a village at 7:30 in the morning, is not a regular sight, and the village folk, children as well as elderly, flocked to the area out of curiosity to understand what was going on.

Francisco explained that the entire flight was monitored through GPS and the mobile app allowed the ground party to follow the flight and reach the landing point to assist in deflating the balloon, wrapping up the gas filled aircraft and taking us back to where we started.

Being a marvelous experience that it was, we were all unanimous in appreciating the ground team as well as the happy pilot who left no stone unturned in making our experience wonderful.

The youngest member of our team was 10 year old Madhav, who insists that his birthday is round the corner so he ought to be called a 11 year old.

Thanks Francisco and thanks Sky Waltz.

Sky Waltz has been instrumental in covering major events over their last 9 years of operations – the Jaipur Festival, Agra Festival, Pushkar Festival, and now foray into Udaipur, which is in festive mood all year round.

More information on the tours and other details are available on www.skywaltz.com.