Flying dreams and paragliding realities

Paragliders at play in Hong Kong!

 

Getting ready to take off and fly away :b

 

Whether from up close or less so, 

it all looks really awesome to me! :)

 

Have you ever wished you could fly up in the air, as free as a bird, particularly those that look like they're effortlessly and majestically gliding about?  I figure I must have since one of the recurring dreams I've had over the years involves me doing just like that; and yes, I've always felt really relaxed and happy during those experiences and for a time after I wake up the morning after!

 

Ironically, in real life, I've come to realize over the course of hiking along narrow paths on the sides many a high hill and steep mountain that I am acrophobic and therefore probably would not enjoy being floating high up in the air in real life.  Thus I've never attempted doing any of the following which seemed like they could be a lot of fun in theory but would in all likelihood cause me great terror in reality: hang gliding (something which I longed to do as a kid after watching -- and loving -- the action adventure movie, Sky Riders, but have never dared to do as an adult); bungee jumping; parachuting; and paragliding.

 

Although I haven't witnessed anyone attempting those first three live, I've seen quite a few paragliders flying about in the air since moving to Hong Kong close to 10 years ago now as well as when visiting Bergen's Mount Ulriken one beautiful spring day in Norway and also the sand dunes of Tottori.  And I must say that every time, those extreme sports enthusiasts leave me in awe at their daredevil ways but also how beautiful their actions look. 

 

Here in Big Lychee, the top three spots for paragliders to jump off appear to be Hong Kong Island's Dragon's Back, Lantau Island's Sunset Peak, and the Ngong Ping plateau that's located within Ma On Shan Country Park (as opposed to the one on Lantau that's home to the Big Buddha).  And it was on Ma On Shan Country Park's Ngong Ping plateau that I've been most able to get my closest views of  these intrepid souls doing their thing.

In fact, so close was I to the action that early on I worried that a paraglider would accidentally land on me!  But the more I stayed in the area and observed these people in action, the more I got to realizing how in control they really can be; with one particularly expert paraglider looking to be practicing his landing and being able to fly off and then land again and again on the precise spot that he had chosen to do... which, of course, left me feeling all the more awed at these individuals' skill as well as admiring of their overall daring! :b