The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Another fantastic paragliding flight

Last year on January 1st, we took some of the group paragliding. What a great way to start off 2019! I thought the flight was fantastic, and was really looking forward to doing it again.

I was not let down by my second flight. In fact, it was even better than the first!

Valle de Bravo is a world class paragliding destination, and it's one of the reasons that the area gets a lot of international visitors.

The launch area is right above the town, and the winds do almost the same thing every day making conditions near perfect most of the time.

The view from the launch site.

Seven of us decided to go for it this year. Once again we used Raul and the guys at Valle Profly. They are totally professional and Raul has been paragliding for 19 years. Lots of experienced pilots here.

Cost for our group had gone up a little bit. It was 1500 pesos each last year, but 1,650 pesos ($115 CAD, $88 USD) each this year. Still a great deal compared to what it would cost to do the same thing in Canada or the U.S. 

Ruth went up to the launch pad with Mona, Owenita, Aron, and Larry while Jim and I stayed at the landing area with Sue and Roy who came to watch. 

As they took off, I could zoom in on the launch pad area...

Ruth has lift off!

Ruth.

Mona has lift off!

Mona.

Ruth, Mona, and Owenita.

Ruth.

Mona, coming in for a landing.

Here she comes!

About to hit the ground.

Here comes Owenita.

And Ruth coming in for a landing.


Safe landing.

Aron doing some stunts!


Aron doing a bum landing. Literally. 

And out of focus Larry.

Then it was time for Jim and I. We hopped in the van with our pilots and headed up to the launch pad.

This is how steep the launch pad is.

They get your gear on and give you some basic instructions to follow. Then, when the wind is right, they raise the chute and you take a couple of steps back and then run as fast as you can down the steep hill. Within a second or two, you are in the air!

Jim, looking over the edge.

Jim with all his gear on.
We have an audience!

I am up in the air!
Wow, what a view!


Jim, down below me.

Looking back at the launch area.

I took a video for you...









Coming in for my landing.

I took a video of my landing...


What a thrill. I told Raul that if I were younger I would take this up as a hobby. He said that it's actually people my age who do this as a hobby! They have the time and money. Here, they do a week long course where you are flying every day. It costs 25,000 pesos ($1,750 CAD, $1,330 USD) for the week long course. I could be tempted to splurge!

I have always loved flying, and paragliding is the closest you will get to flying like a bird. I think it's amazing. Some of the guys who landed today had taken off from another spot and had been in the air for two hours! Wow!

After our flight, I brought some of the group over to our favorite butcher.

Daniel and his crew were happy to look after us again!

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And in Canada...




14 comments:

  1. Oh boy oh boy oh boy, SOLD! I *have* to do this now.
    'Scuse me while I go scratch out what used to be on top of my bucket list.

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    Replies
    1. Lol, good for you! This is something that we would highly recommend, it is beautiful to feel like you are just soaring around in the sky like a bird. :-)

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  2. Replies
    1. You would love paragliding then! You need to make a trip over to Valle de Bravo. :-)

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  3. Beautiful day - looks like so much fun...except I'm afraid of heights. Maybe for my husband who loves flying and when he was a kid was an air cadet

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    Replies
    1. It was a beautiful day, it would actually have been even better if there had been just a little more wind than there was though.

      Owenita said that she is scared of heights but she said she would do it and she loved it and was so happy that she made the choice to do it. She was definitely nervous with the take-off but the Profly guys are great, and explain everything to you and when it is your turn to go, you really don't have much time to be nervous before you are taking off and in the air. :-)

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  4. How long was it from take off to landing?

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    1. It varied with each person and how much wind there was. Kevin and I were each up in the air for about 11 minutes but poor Mona had the shortest flight at about 6 minutes. Her pilot just couldn't seem to catch the thermals as much as he tried. He apologized to her and felt bad that her flight wasn't as long.

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  5. Pictures and video's are amazing!! I'm sure experiencing it first hand is even MORE amazing!! What a thrill, to be sure.Tell Mona we're proud of her.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, experiencing this firsthand is amazing and so much better than just looking at the pictures and videos. We will pass your congratulations on to Mona. :-)

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  6. That looks so much fun. And what a gorgeous area to experience while flying like a bird!

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    Replies
    1. We had a ball, it is definitely fun! :-)

      The views from our flights are fantastic, we think this has to be one of the prettiest places to go paragliding but I am sure there are many other gorgeous places around the world as well.

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