Burmese Trailblazers Expected to Balloon Festival in Myanmar in November

Yangon, Burma -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/16/2012 -- A few hundred foreign visitors are expected to be among the tens of thousands of Burmese attending the annual Balloon Festival in late November this year in eastern Myanmar.

With travel restrictions easing in the last 18 months, Slow Burma Travel director Keith Lyons believes the event will attract a number of 'trail-blazer' visitors from abroad. “We are expecting more foreigners to visit Myanmar this winter, with the country being rated as one of the top new destinations to visit in 2012. The balloon festival in November is one of the largest events in Myanmar this year, and this year there will be more visitors from overseas for the spectacle.”

The Lu Ping festival of the Pa O ethnic group is held in southern Shan state in the town of Taunggyi at 1430m above sea level.

“The event lasts more than a week, and activities occur both at night and in the afternoon, with hot air balloons being launched and firecrackers set off,” says Lyons, whose travel operation is gearing up to cope with increased demand for Myanmar trips.

The festival is one of many held throughout the 'Golden Land', a Buddhist nation moving towards full democracy after decades of military rule.

"Visiting Myanmar and spending money in local communities is one way that foreigners can support the new Myanmar and its peaceful move towards democracy," says Lyons.

Slow Burma Travel is a Myanmar-based travel and guiding operation, set up in 2010 to provide foreigners visiting Myanmar with quality, personalized trips and tours. As well as taking guests to the main destinations, it arranges trips to off-the-trodden-path places.