'Floating with the wind': Inside RAK’s hot air balloon that soars 0.5km over UAE desert
There is something mystifying about standing inside a giant basket, a billowing parachute of fabric stretched overhead, knowing that nothing is in control except for the wind. At first, I was skeptical, frightened even.A hot air balloon floats with the wind. It has no steering wheel, no motors, and no brakes. The pilot can only control how high the balloon flies by adjusting the heat inside the envelope. Direction is left entirely to nature.This particular hot air balloon excursion is organised by ActionFlight Ras Al Khaimah and costs around Dh1,000 per person.Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.“It’s only heat,” our pilot, J.P. Lemaire, explained. “We control altitude by heating the air inside the balloon. At different heights, there are different wind currents. That’s how we navigate.” Sometimes, that meant flying low, just a few metres above the dunes. Other times, we climbed higher to catch a different current. The balloon moved silently, drifting wherever the wind decided to take us. We were instructed to arrive just before dawn at a specified location, parking our cars just on the side of the road. We were then picked up by a four-wheeler, first driving through thick brushes scattered around the desert, then to a small farmhouse community, and finally to a clearing. Once we’re there, a table is set with coffee, tea, and some biscuits.Here, the hot air balloon’s massive envelope lay flat on the ground, ready to be inflated.Lemaire gathered us for a briefing. The balloon, he explained, could carry up to 20 people, including the pilot. We were each given a harness similar to an airplane seatbelt, which clipped into loops inside the basket. As the burners fired up, the sound of propane roared above our heads, filling the envelope with hot air until the basket slowly lifted upright.Then, almost without noticing, we left the ground. Rising with the sunriseWe rose with the sunrise. There was no sudden movement, no sense of speed, just a quiet detachment from the desert below. A long stretch of sand greeted us below. For miles, all we could see were the rough dunes that shaped Ras Al Khaimah’s topography. Camels moved slowly across the sand, mere dots in the vast desert landscape.In the distance, the sun was slowly rising over the great Hajar mountains, a long stretch of rocky mountains that spans across the northeastern Emirates all the way to Oman. At intervals, the burner roared, briefly breaking the silence before fading away.While we were suspended in the air, a two-person aircraft approached us in the distance. The jet, also part of one of ActionFlight’s offerings, circled around us, performing blood-curdling loops in the sky.Watch a video, here:After nearly an hour, Lemaire began preparing for landing. He opened vents at the top of the balloon, allowing hot air to escape as we descended. Eventually, we touched down after two gentle bumps in the sand. There was no runway and no fixed destination. Just a quiet return to the desert, exactly where the wind had decided to leave us.Look: Face to face with a giant, swimming with whale sharks in Indian OceanDrone shows, desert camping, motorsports: UAE's Liwa Festival lights up 300-metre sand duneFrom quiet sands to viral fame: How Exit 116 became UAE’s newest desert hotspot
There is something mystifying about standing inside a giant basket, a billowing parachute of fabric stretched overhead, knowing that nothing is in control except for the wind. At first, I was skeptical, frightened even.
A hot air balloon floats with the wind. It has no steering wheel, no motors, and no brakes. The pilot can only control how high the balloon flies by adjusting the heat inside the envelope. Direction is left entirely to nature.
This particular hot air balloon excursion is organised by ActionFlight Ras Al Khaimah and costs around Dh1,000 per person.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
“It’s only heat,” our pilot, J.P. Lemaire, explained. “We control altitude by heating the air inside the balloon. At different heights, there are different wind currents. That’s how we navigate.” Sometimes, that meant flying low, just a few metres above the dunes. Other times, we climbed higher to catch a different current. The balloon moved silently, drifting wherever the wind decided to take us.
We were instructed to arrive just before dawn at a specified location, parking our cars just on the side of the road. We were then picked up by a four-wheeler, first driving through thick brushes scattered around the desert, then to a small farmhouse community, and finally to a clearing. Once we’re there, a table is set with coffee, tea, and some biscuits.
Here, the hot air balloon’s massive envelope lay flat on the ground, ready to be inflated.
Lemaire gathered us for a briefing. The balloon, he explained, could carry up to 20 people, including the pilot. We were each given a harness similar to an airplane seatbelt, which clipped into loops inside the basket. As the burners fired up, the sound of propane roared above our heads, filling the envelope with hot air until the basket slowly lifted upright.
Then, almost without noticing, we left the ground.
Rising with the sunrise
We rose with the sunrise. There was no sudden movement, no sense of speed, just a quiet detachment from the desert below. A long stretch of sand greeted us below. For miles, all we could see were the rough dunes that shaped Ras Al Khaimah’s topography. Camels moved slowly across the sand, mere dots in the vast desert landscape.
In the distance, the sun was slowly rising over the great Hajar mountains, a long stretch of rocky mountains that spans across the northeastern Emirates all the way to Oman. At intervals, the burner roared, briefly breaking the silence before fading away.
While we were suspended in the air, a two-person aircraft approached us in the distance. The jet, also part of one of ActionFlight’s offerings, circled around us, performing blood-curdling loops in the sky.
Watch a video, here:
After nearly an hour, Lemaire began preparing for landing. He opened vents at the top of the balloon, allowing hot air to escape as we descended. Eventually, we touched down after two gentle bumps in the sand. There was no runway and no fixed destination. Just a quiet return to the desert, exactly where the wind had decided to leave us.
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