We planned a trip to Mexico City and one of the top experiences you should do is a hot air balloon ride. This is actually on the outskirts of CDMX, in Teotihuacan. We booked our trip through Viator, but the actual company was AL Sol Globos. There was a clear disconnect between Viator and the company. We kept getting emails telling us we had been moved to a later time, which we did not want, since the whole point is to experience the sunrise, ten late the night before, we were back on for a 4:40am pick up. The email came in after 9pm. If we had not seen it, we would have missed out on the entire experience. Horrible communication.

We were picked up at our hotel, and got the last 2 seats in the van. During the almost hour long ride in a van with no shocks every pothole felt like a personal attack. My spine learned new swear words that morning. In Spanish.

We finally arrived, just in time to watch the workers start to set up and begin the procedure of inflating the balloons. This is worth getting there early. The process is fascinating and especially watching it in the dark.

I really wasn’t afraid or nervous and our pilot seemed in control and the flight was uneventful, as far as anything scary or unnerving. The flight lasted about 45 minutes and went by quickly. It was very calm and seeing all of the other balloons looked like the sky was celebrating.

The landing was a little rough and makes you appreciate all of the people it takes to make this experience special. It is not that easy to stop a basket filled with people, that has a giant balloon attached, and get it into a trailer attached to a truck.

We had paid for the entire package that included breakfast in a cave and walking around the pyramids. We did the breakfast in the cave, which was not what I expected it to be. We decided to get an Uber and skip the pyramids, since we had flown over them and have seen ruins in Chichen Itza and Tulum. I would recommend only doing the hot air balloon ride, but that is up to you. It will definitely be the highlight of your trip.