On Wings of Eagles - A Paragliding Adventure

A short while back, Jo happen to complete another lap around the sun. In some circles, that's known as a birthday - we like to refer to it as a call to action! For the past three years, Jo has gone out and done some amazing things on her birthday: sky diving in 2008 and  hot air ballooning at dawn in 2009. I was determined to keep the tradition alive in 2010 with something amazing! The answer dropped in my lap when one of our friends went paragliding. I knew that adrenaline ride would just be the ticket.

While the folks at ParaLove do speak English, the website was completely in Korean. Thankfully, my boss was kind enough to help me arrange our flights. Several options were available, but knowing Jo, I knew she'd want the most extreme... and that's just what I ordered: flights from 860m complete with photo and video coverage. It was a bit on the expensive side at W150,000 per person, but worth it.

Our destination was Yangpyeong (양평) a few hours east of Seoul. While there is a local intercity bus running from Suwon for W7,200, we opted for bus and subways for half the price. The commute time was about the same and before long (well 2 hours later) we were ready to ascend the mountain with our tandem leads.

ParaLove provided everything for us. Jumpsuits, helmets, cameras, bags to put our stuff in, and best of all, a little snack. Jo went first and I got to see her soar off into the sky. A few minutes later, my guide and I zoomed into the air. Since I spoke a little Korean, I was given the guide with less English abilities. However, I found his English to be superb. He was effectively able to communicate with me and I felt completely at ease.

One of the great aspects of this trip, is that Jo and I were able to self-drive the parachutes while soaring down. This freed up the tandem instructor to shoot photos and video. That is until the end, when they shoot you down to the landing zone while spiraling about. It was a serious kick in the ass. Sometimes I think we were horizontal! I'm not sure how the parachute remained in the air.

I highly recommend this outfit if you want a fun ride. Rather than going through the website, I'd contact Mr. Jin at info (at)  para114 (dot) com. One note of warning: if you opt for video/photos - bring a usb drive to take the images home. Jo and I thankfully had an extra SD card (2gb) that held everything, but if I had known ahead of time, I would have brought a larger drive.






Info: ParaLove - http://www.para114.com - 010-4255-1102