Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta has entered its fifth anniversary. Well, the fiesta is now becoming an important carnival for the people around Klang Valley. For 2013, the carnival has attracted about 18 balloonists cross four continents. Previous experience, either be early, or be late. The weather in the middle of the day is a big spoiler.
This year, we went on sunrise. We reached at Putrajaya Precinct 2 fiesta site at around 8 a.m. It sounds crazy on a beautiful Saturday morning, but really, we were not among the earliest. Crowd was gathering, a thousand of them, maybe more. We were lucky to find a car park some 100 meters away from the main exhibition area. Well, car park should be ample, but if you come late (say in the evening), you might need to park your car half a kilometer away. There were 5 zones- blue, yellow, red, purple and green, assigned to the exhibition of hot air balloons, helicopter ride and bazaar area, corporate area, food and beverages area, and the extreme zone respectively. We started from the blue zone- the balloons!
8:15 a.m. visitors are waiting for their turn to board into the hot air balloons. The fee is RM25 for a ride of 5 - 10 minutes.
Our photo with the hot air balloons.
More photos with the balloons. By the way, we went to the fiesta with Kelly. She helped us a lot in taking our photos :)
Cute Cat Balloon. We saw this balloon last year too.
X'treme sports at Green Zone.
9 a.m. We need to pass through the crowd in order to move forward. Monument Alaf Baru can be seen far behind.
The para-motor show started when we were strolling around Green Zone. It was a good place to watch the show, as the para-motors were encircling Monument Alaf Baru.
Different formation of para-motors.
We went for our breakfast around 9:15 a.m. It was hard to find a place to sit. We were not the early birds...
However, the thumbs up, the price for the local food stalls were really reasonable. In fact, we should use the word "cheap" compare to other international carnivals. Local food was available at Purple Zone.
Franchais food stalls such as KFC, Ayamas, Sushi King, A&W, and Pizza Hut were available at Red Zone.
Some information about Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. It was held on 28th - 31st March. The entrance was free. The weather, warm in the morning and evening, hot and humid on the rest of the day. The easiest way to go to the carnival site at Precinct 2 is by car. Alternatively, you can take KLIA ERL to Putrajaya Central, then hoop into Nadi Putrajaya Bus (bus no 301, 601, 701). The bus will bring you to the carnival site. The site was really big. So a comfortable footwear might be necessary. Drinking water, sunblock, umbrella are necessary in case you are going to the site in the afternoon. Are we going to visit the fiesta again next year? Why not, if we have a Saturday with nothing official to do?
On our way back to the car park, we can see more and more people were coming to the fiesta (right). Well, if you missed a balloon ride, maybe you can buy a balloon from the vendors by the road. :)
Other places nearby Putrajaya:
