Balloon for dummies, please

[tracian]

I have gone everywhere, read everything, and yet I am missing the - apparently indispensable - balloon. The discussions are so vague that they almost seem to reference a whole different game altogether... Can anyone please help in plain language how to get that item?

My biggest gripe: Is the "city" the ruined buildings with zombies close to the dragon, or what?

Also: I found every sleeping miner. I know they must be awaken with coffee. Even running, there is no way I can reach them before the coffee timer expires - and the teleporters cancel the coffee entirely. What gives?

[Terrazor]

Did you find mushroom? For coffee miners you need to have swimming ability

[tracian]

Yup. Got one mushroom (found the second, but still haven't managed to delivery it) and I got pretty decent swimming skills (can ascend waterfalls).

[tracian]

However, for anyone still seeking... here is what nobody is saying:

The balloon is beyond the zombie area, up in what is clearly a temple. Go all the way up, win a few big fights, and you'll reach the damn "city", which doesn't appear on the map.

And there you have it.

[Monicako]

I mean once you reach the ruined city you'll know you are there. What you're referencing, the area with a couple of zombies, doesn't even resemble a city. But when you reach that point, you just go top left of the map and you'll see the balloon. I actually got it even before getting the hookshot, so my entire gameplay was very different from what others might ghave experienced, I just skipped over so many things with it.

[Syma]

To answer your question about the coffee, there is no special trick involved other than using the boots. You need to go from the coffee stand in the city to each of the miners in less than a minute. I'd recommend planning out the path you need to take to avoid detours and try to avoid unecessary fights while you are running.

Some of the dwarfs are harder to get to than others, but ultimately it should not be that hard if you don't get lost on the way and run past most enemies.

[David J Prokopetz]

Another point to bear in mind regarding the miners is that fast-travel portals ruin your coffee, but taking shortcuts via caves doesn't. Don't restrict yourself to travelling through the overworld; the miner in the far Northwest portion of the map, for example, is practically impossible to reach in time if you're going overland, but there's a specific cave that can literally cut your travel time in half, provided you've already solved the puzzles it contains.