Balloon Tours
What's more frightening: Riding a hot air balloon hundreds of meters above the ground, or hundreds of meters below? Well that's a question you'll have to ask yourself with the new hot air balloon tours here.
For a rather outrageous price you can experience what it's like to descend into the void and be able to return out of it. I myself had no desire to experience this. But I knew you would be curious about it so I did it for you.
The balloon was one of those classic hot air balloons with a basket that fitted five of us, shoulder to shoulder. Our pilot was quiet and didn't talk much unless he needed to. The other passengers were two believers and one lab coat. None of us felt like doing any small talk.
We had to reach several stories up at first which was nice to see the view of the city. Then I spotted the hole. It's a strange site to see the circle from high up. You don't really understand the scale of it from the ground. It's an indescribable sight. But this is not the sight that we paid for.
Once we were over the black void, we started to descend. Soon we were grown level, then soon we were below.
Unless looking up, everything felt like my eyes were closed. Completely nothing. The only sound was the hot air balloon ejecting heat.
The lab coat scribbled notes and the two believers dropped something out of the balloon. Our pilot stared forward at nothing while operating the balloon.
The lab coat slipped some money to the driver and we descended further.
Once you're below a certain depth it doesn't really matter. Nothing changed as we went deeper. It was all just black. The only thing to see was when looking up at the entrance of the surface.
"This is the limit" our pilot said. We started to rise and I was relieved. The other passengers seemed to enjoy the experience but I felt uneasy. I did not like being in the void. I did not feel like I belonged here. I don't think anything does.
Eventually we reached the surface and I was able to look straight and actually see something that wasn't just darkness. I could not wait until we landed on the ground.
It took several hours afterwards of walking for me to feel back to normal. I couldn't sleep for a week afterwards. Every time I closed my eyes I thought I was falling into the void.
Is taking the balloon tour into the circle an experience unlike anything else? The answer is yes.
Do I recommend? The answer is no. Unless you're crazy.