Paragliding

I'm bogged down in cleaning, packing, and going to sayonara parties at the moment. But last week when I was chilling and only thinking of packing/cleaning/sayonara partying I decided to get something off my want-to-do list for here in Tahara and that was go paragliding. I'd caught glimpses of paragliders in Takigashira Park and near Mt. Zao and I've always been intrigued. I finally convinced my friend Sue to go with me and she was very kind to do all the research, scheduling, and translating safety instructions for me.

The first day we tried to go the wind wasn't so good so we had to wait a long time. I didn't really mind because we were in the shade, there was a breeze (even if it wasn't good for flying) and we had a spectacular view of the Pacific. We ended up getting to go finally but it was only for 10 minutes. We paid the guy but he said we could come back another day for free since we really hadn't gotten our money's worth.

So the next day we tried again. This time the only waiting was for Sue to finish her turn. Then I went for over an hour and a half. We flew a total of 22 kilometers - from the launch point in Toyohashi all the way down to Tahara. This was quite the deal since at the rate we paid we were only supposed to be up for 30 minutes. And I think I paid less than advertised because either the guy doesn't know how to make change or he gave me a discount because I'm foreign and/or the wind wasn't good the first day. Either way I was definitely a satisfied customer!

An hour and a half ended up being a little too long actually since my legs were starting to cramp from not being able to move but it was worth it. Great views and it was oddly relaxing. It wasn't jarring at all (even the landing) and I tended to forget that we were 100m in the air until I looked down to see my feet dangling.




Ready to go.









Looking down.


The amazing view.