Things to do
Hot air ballooning over the Cultural Triangle
An hour above Sigiriya at first light
Hot air ballooning over the Cultural Triangle at a glance
- How long
- Three hours, one of them flying
- Usual start
- 5.30am
- Season
- November to April
- Effort
- Easy
- Minimum age
- Usually 7
- From
- $275 per person
There is one hour a day, at first light between November and April, when the Cultural Triangle is worth seeing from the air. The dry-zone plain is flat, the light is low and gold, and Sigiriya rises out of it as the only vertical thing for miles.
How the morning runs
Pick-up is around 5.30am. You watch the envelope inflate in the dark, which takes about half an hour and is more interesting than it sounds, and lift at first light. The flight is about an hour, drifting wherever the wind takes you at between a few hundred and a couple of thousand feet, over paddy, tank villages and jungle.
Where you land depends on the wind, so a chase vehicle follows. Most operators finish with a sparkling wine breakfast in whatever field you came down in, which is a ballooning tradition rather than a Sri Lankan one.
The season and the weather
November to April only — outside that the monsoon wind makes it unflyable. Even in season, flights are called off at dawn for wind more often than the brochures suggest.
If ballooning matters to you, book it for the first of two mornings in the area so there is a second chance. Operators normally refund or reschedule a weather cancellation.
What it costs
Around USD 250 to 300 per person for the hour. It is the most expensive single thing on most Sri Lanka itineraries and one of the few that is genuinely worth the money — largely because the alternative view of Sigiriya involves 1,200 steps.
How the day runs
-
5.30am
Pick-up in the dark
Collected from your hotel and driven to whichever launch field the wind suits that morning.
-
30 min
Inflation
Watching an envelope the size of a building fill by torchlight. Better than it sounds.
-
1 hour
The flight
First light over paddy, tanks and jungle, with Sigiriya rock standing out of the plain.
-
7.30am
Landing and breakfast
Wherever the wind puts you. The chase vehicle arrives with breakfast.
Questions we get asked about Hot air ballooning over the Cultural Triangle
Around USD 250 to 300 per person for roughly an hour in the air, plus pick-up, inflation and breakfast either side. It is the single most expensive item on most itineraries and one of the few where the money buys something you genuinely cannot get another way.
November to April. Outside those months the monsoon wind makes flying unsafe and operators do not run. Even in season, flights are cancelled at dawn for wind fairly often, so build a spare morning into the plan.
The decision is made at dawn on the day, based on wind. Reputable operators refund in full or reschedule to the next morning. This is why we book ballooning for the first of two mornings in the Cultural Triangle rather than the last.
Most operators set a minimum of around seven and require a child to be tall enough to see over the basket edge, which is roughly 1.3 metres. Below that they see wicker for an hour, which is nobody's idea of USD 275 well spent.
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