The skies of Araku Valley turned into a colourful grand spectacle as the three-day Araku Balloon Festival took off on Tuesday.
A tourism promotional event, the hot air balloon festival has seen a huge response with hundreds of people travelling to the valley from Visakhapatnam a day ahead to catch the first glimpse of the balloons soaring in the skies. Most hotels and resorts were packed with travellers who booked accommodation well in advance in anticipation of the hot air balloon festival being held in the region for the first time. “This is my first experience of seeing a hot air balloon this closely. The energy at the launch site was incredible. I also interacted with a few foreign pilots and got some great shots of the festival,” said Narendra Sai, an avid photographer.
Like him, several others travelled to Araku to witness the 16 colourful balloons take to the skies. “It’s a rare chance to view such a fantastic festival happening in our neighbourhood. I came here a day before so that I don’t miss the first day’s action,” said Mayank Kumari Deo, who came with her daughter from Visakhapatnam.
Many of them travelled to the camp site to get a glimpse of the luxury tents set up in an eco-friendly setting at Bosebeda village, near Araku. A large team of over 100 photographers, nature lovers and students from across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana arrived at valley to capture the spectacular scenes of the festival. There are several others who are making plans to head to the valley in the coming two days. “Our rooms are almost booked till November 16 for the festival. Today morning itself, we got a few extended stay requests from guests who have already arrived here from Vizag,” said the front office manager of Dhimsa Resorts.
