PARAGLIDING - HANGING FOR THRILLS

We find out where to travel in the region to experience paragliding, through EL contributor NEIL ARMSTRONG. (He's tried it twice and says it's amazing - if a bit nerve-wracking at first!)

- NEIL ARMSTRONG

Paragliding will see you floating through the sky, relaxing in a comfy cloth chair cum hammock, suspended by a thousand slender strings under a billowing parachute/wing. All while watching the world below from a blissful, stress-free perspective!

For many, this will sound like something they'd love to experience. But there's no escaping the reality: to get there, you have to run into the void off a high platform or cliff. This is where an encouraging instructor, and your tandem partner, are worth their weight in gold. Well, okay, maybe half their weight. In feathers.

Thanks to a leap of faith, a large, lightweight and highly manoeuvrable paraglider wing - think of it as a cross between a parachute and a flexible wing-plus a comfortable padded harness, the sky is your canvas. Chasing thermals to gain altitude, you can soar, swoop and bring out your inner eagle.

The flights are a mix of extreme adrenaline and zen - let's call it "adrenalizen". The moment you are clipped in and standing at the mountainside, you might be questioning what you got yourself into. Then you get the signal and run forward (you might let out a bit of a scream, or possibly a silent prayer), the wing inflates, and you find yourself hanging. You're now airborne in a silent world, enjoying views few get to experience, with an enormous smile on your face.

There are organisations offering paragliding tandem tours and lessons throughout Asia. Here are a few...

Paragliding, be confused not to with ...

Parasailing This involves a person being towed behind a boat in a specially designed parachute known as a parasail.

Skydiving-While in paragliding you launch yourself from the ground, skydiving involves dropping out of a plane and deploying a parachute to descend to the ground.