Hot air balloons attract tourists in Manali

Manali, July 29 (ANI): Tourists from across the country enjoyed hot air ballooning in Manali hill resort in Himachal Pradesh.

Located at an altitude of 2050 meters, Manali boasts of a beautiful countryside dotted with orchards, snow clad mountains, lush valleys and dense forests.

Hot air balloon operators who charge 10.37 and 5.18 dollars for adults and children respectively believe that the exotic beauty of this place combined adventure sports like ballooning is a heady mix and would also give them good earning prospects.

"It is quite possible that the sports will do good business here," said Rakesh, an organiser.

Tourists said that flying over lush green valley gave them an enthralling experience.

"When we went up, it seemed that we are floating on the clouds, it was really a nice experience," said Sachin, a tourist.

Apart from hot air ballooning, the hill resort is also popular for white water river rafting, paragliding, mountaineering, rock climbing, rappelling, tracking, snow sports like skiing, snow biking and horse riding.

With its panorama of temples, rivers and mountain peaks, Himachal Pradesh, a heavily tourism dependent economy, has been pitching aggressively to tap the vast potential of adventure sports. By Prem Thakur (ANI)