When I was younger, I always played it safe. So the idea of jumping off the side of the mountain and leaving my life up to some strings and straps was inconceivable. But along with growth and maturity came a bit of recklessness (the responsible kind), curiosity, and a thirst for adventure, perhaps. And now I’ve come to this point, where I actually went paragliding in Danyang, South Korea.
(Keep scrolling to the end of this post to watch the small video I put together on this experience. Thanks!)
August 25, 2017 was the date that we set for our paragliding in Danyang experience. We made the reservation at least one month in advance, and on the days leading up to that date, I was dreading getting a message from them saying it’s cancelled because of bad weather. Because, well, there were rains back in Jeju a few days before, and the day before this one, we walked around Insadong under a heavy downpour in the afternoon.
Thank heavens the weather cooperated that day, and it was a go!
We left Seoul quite early. In fact, a bit too early. Even the guy who was supposed to meet us at the bus terminal in Danyang was surprised, haha!
We left Seoul at 7am
Yes. 7-freaking-A-to-the-M.
We were able to get tickets for the 7 am bus from Seoul City Express Bus Terminal to the Danyang Intercity Bus Terminal. The trip took a little over 2 hours, so we arrived at the Bus Terminal at 9:10. We sent a message to ParaMan Cho (our point of contact) and, since he has to come down from the mountain, we waited for around 10 minutes.
During the drive, ParaMan Cho (friendly chap, I wonder how his trip to Manila that December went) briefed us on what to expect and what to do while paragliding. I just remember us going up and up and up in forever winding roads…. You will see a bit of the winding mountain road in the video below.
Anyway, after about 10 minutes of continuous climbing, we arrived at what I think is the highest jump-off point (because we passed several other jump-off points before getting here).
There, we were instructed to leave our stuff at the available lockers, then we signed some forms (waivers signing our limbs and lives away, pretty much), haha!
Look at that view. Oh, and there was this four-legged friend lazing around at the balcony.
He’s probably wondering why all these people are coming here to jump.
And look! A photo spot with the 2 Days & 1 Night logo!! We just had to take a photo.
Fun fact: my interest to try this experience started when I saw that 2 Days & 1 Night episode with Park Bogum as guest, where they went to Danyang and he did paragliding with Taehyun & Defcon… (Jongmin chickened out). Since seeing that episode, I just wanted to give it a try as well.
When everything was set, ParaMan Cho led us to the strip (I don’t know what it’s called, just an edge of the mountain to jump off of, really). There were small trucks there, and they are the chasers, or the ones to meet the paragliders at the landing area to bring the chute back up.
There were platforms as well, where people could wait. And suited up.
Man, the suits were huge. Oh wait, no, they were of normal sizes, we were just tiny, haha!
As you can see, there weren’t a lot of people then. Which is a good thing! I think there were only a couple of groups ahead of us. A group of teenage boys and a family of three with a kid around 4 or 5 years old.
When I saw the kid jump off, I felt somehow reassured. Yes, I have no shame for saying that I based my confidence level on a 5-year-old.
I thought ParaMan Cho was gonna jump with either of us, but it turns out his turn would be later during that day, so we were assigned different partners. ParaMan is short for Paragliding Man, I suppose.
Mine was ParaMan Lee. Limited English, but very nice and friendly. And, most importantly, very reassuring.
Rog did the jump first, and I was getting excited as the seconds passed. Sure, I was nervous, but was excited at the same time.
And then it was time…
The instruction was for me to run, run, RUN RUN RUNRUNRUN until we’re off the ledge. Which I did. But the wind was so strong and I felt like I wasn’t advancing at all. I just felt my short legs pumping forward futilely.
But what do you know, the next thing I knew, I was off the ledge, and we were airborne.
WOO-HOO!!!!
Anyway, as you will see in the video below, it was a very thrilling ride for me. Well, it was thrilling, then relaxing, then thrilling-and-for-a-few-seconds-nauseating.
The view was fan~tastic. Greens and browns, dotted with houses and similar structures. The long winding mountain roads were a joy to behold, because it reminded me a bit of the mountain roads back home. The length of Namhangang (or Namhan River), which goes to Seoul to connect with the Hangang, (or Han River) was a bit brown because of rains the previous day, but it somehow stood out even more in that tableau.
And the sight of several other colorful paragliders in the air around us was also something to behold.
Even if I wanted to stay up there for much longer, the morning air was a bit cold, and I think this had an effect on the wind action. So we were up in the air for around 8 minutes only.
Still, one of the best EIGHT MINUTES OF MY LIFE.
In case you’re wondering, we made the reservation via AdventureKorea.com. Payment was made via Paypal, then I received a confirmation email, and information on the contact person who will be contacting me via Facebook. ParaMan Cho was the one who reached me on Facebook, and the rest, as they say, is history.
You can check for more information and make a reservation at this link: AdventureKorea.com Tandem Paragliding.
Meanwhile, here’s the video~!!
Video:
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