THE NATION,FEBRUARY 8, Balloonists

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

       Balloonists make  textbook landing on  Burmese soil

      OKE THWIN, Burma -- ''I saw the shining
      orange object and thought it was a
      Buddhist monk levitating,'' Aung Chan, a 70
      year-old farmer said after the Breitling
      Orbiter 2 touched down outside his village
      yesterday morning. 

      Thousands of villagers in this deeply
      Buddhist country, some of whom had never
      before set eyes on a Westerner, were
      shocked to see the huge silver balloon, with
      its orange gondola swinging beneath,
      descend from the heavens. 

      ''I did not know what was happening when I
      saw strange people coming out of this thing
      when it came to earth,'' Aung Chan said. 

      The tired and dirty crew of the European
      balloon stumbled out of their craft after a
      textbook landing in a field on the outskirts of
      Oke Thwin, a dusty hamlet about 150
      kilometres north of Rangoon in Burma. 

      They were greeted by thousands of locals
      and Burmese soldiers who had flocked to
      the landing site. 

      As the balloon gently settled to earth, the
      villagers overcame their initial shock and
      swarmed over the strange craft, cutting
      strips off the silver canopy and spiriting
      away solar panels. 

      Despite being disappointed at having to
      abandon their around-the-world bid, the
      crew were in high spirits, joking that they
      expect ''a lot of solar-powered houses in
      the area soon''. 

      After talking to reporters, the visibly tired
      and unshaven crew were back in the air,
      this time in a helicopter headed for the
      capital Rangoon, where they are expected
      to board a charter flight back to Geneva
      later. 

      The European balloonists, who have spent
      more time continuously aloft in an aircraft
      than any other humans, left the Swiss Alps
      on Jan 28 in what was the fifth such attempt
      to fly around the world since last December.

      With the balloon's huge silver canopy fast
      disappearing, a crane was manoeuvred
      into place to lift the 15-tonne gondola onto a
      truck which will take it to Rangoon, before
      being shipped back to Britain where it was
      built. 

      Burma had on Thursday granted a relatively
      rare approval for the celebrated balloon to
      land in the country, after a request by the
      crew to cross China had been declined. 

      Despite the Orbiter's failure to
      circumnavigate the globe, organisers
      vowed to make another attempt ''before too
      long'', although weather may prevent it from
      taking place before the end of the year. 

      Agence France-Presse