Every year for the past 15 or so, I have always wanted to try my hand at Paragliding...

Y'know that sport where you climb up to a dizzy height and launch yourself into the air trusting only to a few yards of silk fabric and some nylon ropes?...

Well this year's vacation to Olu Deniz in Turkey provided just the opportunity...although my flight was to be 'tandem' it was an experience I shall never forget and one I aim to repeat again in the non too distant future.

AFTER a 50 minute jeep ride up Mount Babadag to the southwest of the resort stopping halfway to take on water and check that the rear offside tyre had actually punctured whilst traversing a road that any self respecting mountain goat would shy away from! We finally reached the take off point 1800metres above sea level.

All suited up we receive our instructions..."Wait for the signal and run! Dont stop running until told to and remain standing until I say sit down!"...

Duly strapped in tandem with my pilot...we await the gentle head on breeze that would be our cue to run like hell...it comes...we run...I'm still pumping my legs 30 metres up in the air..."Ok stop running and sit down" comes the instruction...I do...gladly and marvel at the silence that surrounds us....that and the breathtaking views of the Mountainside and the mediterrenean stretched out below!

As we round a gorge I feel as if I'm in a lift as a thermal updraft takes hold and we gently rise still higher to around 2000 metres...a gentle sweeping right turn and we see Olu Deniz laid out in front of us...

The water so blue it blends into the sky. The heat haze over the land gives a misty like shimmer to island outlines and adds to the adrenaline rush that I'm experiencing....Oh I forgot...my camera is strapped in my flightsuit...Fumbling around I retrieve it from the suit and fire off a dozen shots or so.
It is so damn beautiful up here that I really have to concentrate on pressing the shutter button...everything takes second place to that view!

We float silently over the Blue Lagoon and back again picking out thermals from the hillsides to keep us aloft...and all credit to the pilot for managing to find enough of them to keep my 16 stone frame aloft for a good 35/40 minutes before we came into land on the seafront.
The purchase of a tee-shirt to commemorate my trip was a must and as I say, I aim to be buying another one sometime soon!

If you have never tried it...go on! Do it!...It really isn't anything like jumping off a cliff at all!