I don’t take roller coasters. Ever. I detest the stomach-dropping feeling. On the Transformers ride in USS, I screamed myself hoarse, much to the chagrin of the young children and elderly next to me. So I had no idea what possessed me to think that paragliding would be a good idea, except that I sort of remembered a fond parasailing experience in Phuket when I was younger.
Either way, about 30 minutes out of Hualien City, our driver pulled up next to a dusty little eatery in the blazing Taiwan sun. This was the meeting point for Mingli Paragliding. For groups without a driver, they provide a complimentary pick up from Wanhua Train Station, so it’s really easy to get there from any part of Taiwan. June is actually Taiwan’s plum rain season so we were lucky to chance upon a rare sunny day, but the instructor warned us earlier over the phone it might rain later that day (and it did). We were about 15 minutes late (well, 8 girls getting ready in the morning is no joke) but the head instructor still greeted us cheerily enough.
I considered just using my own cheapo Xiaoyi to video the whole process, but he warned us repeated that if it fell during flight, there was nothing they could do, so eventually all of us were persuaded into renting their GoPro for about 500NTD. It was more worth it because the instructors would be helping us operate it and take from the best angles! The GoPro would also capture photo stills every 10 seconds while videoing. I still attached my own Xiaoyi on my shoulder for a different view, but be sure to secure any of your equipment tightly.
And off we went! They packed us all into a van and we headed for a 20 min uphill drive through villages and plantations to the take-off slope. As the altitude increased, so did my heartrate. I was starting to regret my decision. But my need to act cool in front of my friends clearly triumphed my fear and we reached the peak without me hurling my breakfast out.
When we got off, the instructors hustled us to the edge with the seasoned, bored air of people who have done this multiple times. They are clearly very experienced, both with taking photos and the actual paragliding. Very tourist/ Instagram friendly whoooo ~
Somehow I got picked to go first but I nimbly wormed my way out “I need to film and take photos I can’t go first!” and sent my friend to the unenviable starting position. I love you still, Ade. We got hooked up into our helmets, harnesses and what looked like a bee’s droopy ass (which I later realised was our seat for the ride) and then Ade was off on her first run.
Probably didn’t eat enough breakfast. It’s okay Ade! So her instructor picked her up and they tried again.
And it was majestic! The contrast of the parachute against the lush mountainous view was absolutely beautiful. The take-off looked pretty straightforward, didn’t hear any screams or falling bodies but my guts were in my shoes. Gulp. I pretended to busy myself with more filming.
So one by one my friends glided off. And my trepidation mounted. Thankfully, about halfway through, a fantastic distraction came in the form of my instructor. He looked like he just stepped off the shores of Hawaii, tanned, tattooed and terribly charming. His name was Dragon and he had golden hair. His first words to me were (in Chinese), “I have been paragliding for 20 years but never had I ferried such a beautiful girl before.” Pretty sure I’ll be okay leaping off of Mount Everest with him.
Maybe they could see I was turning green as my turn approached, but the instructors were all joking around, ragging on my instructor for picking the pretty girl and demanding to know what his wife would say. Trust me, there is no better time for an ego boost than just right before you fling yourself off a cliff. I was so distracted that the sinking feeling didn’t set in until I was standing right at the edge.
That’s when Dragon got serious. “Jokes aside, we are going to take off now so we need to focus. I want you to keep running and running and don’t stop running until I say so.” He pointed at a footpath in the distance and told me to imagine running towards it. He did my final safety checks, set up my GoPro, did a few cute encouraging cheers and then we were off and running!
I’m sure he says that to everyone but Dragon said my take-off was perfect! More importantly, there was NO STOMACH DROPPING FEELING AT ALL! Best. Revelation. Ever. So for everyone who is at all worried about paragliding, this validation is coming first hand from a girl whose limit is the Sesame Street ride in USS.
Whoo hoo! The view was to die for. Not literally but I can make jokes now that I made it safely in the air without peeing myself. There are no words to describe it – but there is an S$25 wide angle video.
The ride was incredibly smooth, I mean for 2 humans dangling in the sky from a piece of cloth. And Dragon magically produced a seat (yes, a seat) in mid-air from my bee’s ass, so there is none of that harness-cutting-into-pelvic-area discomfort. If I may, we were gliding in glamour. He even helped me hold the GoPro after a while to show me the best angles.
It was an aerial tour of the stunning East Rift Valley, complete with Dragon as my handy tour guide pointing out all the various landmarks (which I promptly because they were all in Chinese). He pointed out his village, where he has stayed all his life. I really wonder where he got his Moana-style inspirations from though. But it made me a little sad up there in the sky, gazing over the mountains into the horizon of the Pacific Ocean, to think that he saw the horizons everyday but didn’t think to venture out beyond them. In the crisp summer wind, I was suddenly overcome with a pressing urge to fly off and see the world, like a bird, unrestrained by my commitments and expectations.
We fell silent after a while, just drinking in nature’s beauty laid out beneath us. I didn’t want to land so quickly and I told Dragon so, and he obliged by spinning us an additional round, over a lake reaching out into the seas in the distance. It was absolutely one of the highlights of my trip, after days of battling the rain and travelling along windy mountain roads.
Way too soon, we began preparations for landing. Well, Dragon began preparations. All I had to do was sit down and lift my feet in the air. My landing was super smooth and steady, kudos to Dragon (or maybe just because I was too heavy for the wind to flip us around) but some of my other friends landed on their sides or got cuts on their arms. We touched down, light as a feather, in a grassy field and were soon bundled off in a truck to deliver us back to our starting point. Everybody went home with an SD card (whoo hoo!) with their photo and video memories.
All in all, what a fantastic experience! You absolutely cannot miss this if you come to Hualien. Beats all the boring road tours FLAT. You can ask for my instructor Dragon, and tell him 女神 (he called me Goddess teeheehee) sent you. On hindsight, I might be a little biased. But I’m just kidding, this is the BEST way to experience Hualien!
Book it here! https://www.kkday.com/en-sg/product/5359?cid=6320
If you get hungry, we had a fantastic lunch in the restaurant just opposite the paragliding base. We just decided to wander over to explore after we reached back and it was one of the best meals we had in Taiwan (super affordable too, as with the rest of our meals in Taiwan).
Till our next adventure!
Love,
Sally