Paragliding

On Monday (24th) we went paragliding. Tick!. Now I thought this involved running off the side of a hill, and then flying around (whilst attached to an instructor of course). What I didn´t realise was that it actually involved running off of the very top of a mountain. And as the for the "World´s Most Dangerous Road" being in Bolivia, well the road up this particular mountain had to be a contender. It was no wider than the 4x4 we were in and I had already built myself into a bit of a state before I´d even got to the top.

The thing is, as I have got older I have noticed more and more that I have a real love/hate relationship with heights. I used to want to jump off anywhere where I was up high, and experience that feeling of, well, falling. Now I just want to be back down on good old terra-firma as soon as I get up anywhere high, after I have admired the views and taken as many photos as possible. I have been lucky enought to bungy jump, skydive and prat around on the three rides on top of the Statosphere in Las Vegas (including that ridiculously frightening see-saw over the edge) as my relationship with vertigo has developed over the years, and now it was time to go paragliding (especially as we never made it hand-gliding in Rio).

As you can see from the pictures below, we really were on the top of a mountain. We were 1600m or so up.

























































I was crapping it!















H wasn´t.....she was only too keen to go.















H was the first to go. And as you can see we did have to run off of the top..











































It was a great experience, and the views were like nothing else, but to be honest I was glad when we landed, even though I knew I was as safe as could be expected, given the fact we were floating around under a parachute thousands of feet off the ground. The wierdest feeling was definitely when you caught a thermal and you shot up, which is not a sensation you expect to feel. And the instructors beeping altimeter did little to allay the fear. It also did wonders to the big lunch I had just eaten.I´d love to do it again though.

Perspective.....! Looking toward Mendoza and Parque General San Martin.















The take-off area is the grey area on the left of this picture.















The Andes.















Parque General San Martin (including the World Cup football stadium). And yes, that´s H in the photo below that, and in the final photo, I am relieved to be back on terra firma!