Exploring the provinces north of Manila was quite a
logistical challenge for us because if you will start from Cavite, there’s no
way you can reach the north without passing through the urban jungle traffic of
MetroManila which can really stress you up.
We had to leave Cavite in the wee hours so that Manila will still be
asleep when we pass by it.
When Clarkfield Pampanga became the agenda of our next adventure, I'm already aware of the many places to visit in this former US military base that took the Filipino people the help of the underground movement to finally kick out our colonial occupant. Anyway, that's another story for some other day. To make our adventure here more interesting, we decided to coincide our visit with the hot air balloon festival.
Since the Hot Air Ballon Festival is a once-in-a-year event, we are expecting a multitude of people arriving in hordes from the neighboring provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Tarlac, Bulacan and Metro-Manila. The carnival atmosphere of the event was enough to awaken your sleepy heads from the long trip from any point of origin far from Pampanga.
We left Cavite for Pampanga in the wee hours of the morning to avoid traffic which we are anticipating in the venue. We just traveled leisurely along the NLEX (North Luzon Expressway). We arrived in Clarkfield at five oclock in the morning. What met us at the venue is a monstrous traffic jam which stretched from the entrance of Clarkfield as an endless cue of vehicles hoping to get close enough to the entrance of the venue and we have not the faintest idea where to park our car.
Because of the traffic delay, we missed the opening launching of the giant balloons as we only witness their take-off from afar. There were already many balloon that were airborne creating a colorful spectacle of floating giants of different forms and characters lifted with blazing thrusters that push the dirigibles higher up in the air
Even though we were trapped in traffic, the mere sight of these colorful giant balloons is very entertaining and the thought that the simple laws of physics governing the direction of trapped hot air is enought to float them. We had a grand time shooting away with our cameras while walking to the assembly site. Aside from the balloons, there are also paragliders and assorted planes and even jetplanes are up in the air demonstrating their skill in maneuvering their flying contraptions.
We were finally ushered by the traffic enforcers to a parking area about a kilometer from the site, so he had to walk from hereon. Although the distance was a little far, the walk was really not difficult because of the cloudy atmosphere that day and the sight of many floating giants in the air preoccupied us with an entertaining show accompanied by a variety of airplanes that kept our eyes glued to the sky while walking.
Another attraction during the balloon festival are the daredevil flying of the famous Breitling Jet Team. It's a squadron of F-5 fighter jets manned by extremely skillful pilots that can manuever close formation without colliding with each other. I vividly recall a similar team, the Blue Diamonds when I was still a kid and they were the popular jet exhibition team during that time.
Reaching the venue was an arduous task because of the congested crowd. The entrance was choked because ushers have to check your ticket before allowing you to enter and you have to be very careful of your wallets and other personal belongings because the shoving of people is a good opportunity for pickpockets to steal from you.
Upon reaching the venue, the place was already filled with people that apparently had camped out the night before to get a vantage view of the balloons. There were tents all over the place and the venue became a very large picnic ground as well as a dumpsite with all the trash thrown around by irresponsible people.
We were very disappointed by the way the organizers put up facilities all around the area. There were lots of stores selling different kinds of foods and drinks but very few portable toilets or portalets to accommodate the nature's call of the people.
The way things are going on around here, you would really feel that the organizers just want to rake in as many money as they can with the least operating expenditure. Being the privy type of people who prefer wide open peaceful and least populated places to spend the vacation , we were probably not used to being herded like cattle, so this is how I felt while writing this blog.
Furthermore, we were expecting that we would have the chance to approach the balloons a little bit closer for better photo opportunity but they have put up picket fences to restrict the crowd from approaching the balloons and we have to settle by just looking at the floating giants from afar. What a bummer!
Aside from the things that go airborne, there are also other attractions and display that the festival has to offer. Racing cars like this always capture the attention of people who appreciate the need for speed. Like this mean machine right here. It will always be a must toy for the big boys like me.
Despite all the inconveniences experienced during the festival, one should not allow a crappy situation ruin your day, because it is how you deal and adapt to ugly situations that defines your character. There are actually many ways to amuse yourself during the festival. One is to create 3D illusion shots like this that makes a photo scene interesting and funny.
The Hot Air Balloon Festival remains to be an annual event that is always anticipated and participated by a lot of people. It continues to attract people of all ages despite the humid atmosphere, ill-equipped facilities because it promote bonding of family members where they can go on a picnic while watching giant balloons and airplanes being exhibited by skillful fliers to their hearts delight. Clarkfield Pampanga will continue to host this event indefinitely in the future. For us, the experience in seeing this magnificent dirigibles in the air was worth the trip and worth sharing the story with the world.
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