Paragliding- Vagamon
World Wide Web true to it's sense connects everything across the web and shows us things and places which otherwise would never have been known so well.
A friend while going through Facebook saw somebody's post on Paragliding in Kerala. He rang me up immediately saying something about Vagamon and I first thought he was talking about Vagator in Goa. And as it turns out many people don't even know this place exists! After some research came to know that this small hill station in Idukki is the Paragliding hub of Kerala! Fly Vagamon is the institute we flew with. Even the Govt. of Kerala promotes the activity and conducts a Paragliding festival once a year when you can fly for free!
After a call to the Fly Vagamon came to know that the flying season will end in two week's time as weather and winds will not be conducive after 3rd week of April and flying will restart only in October next year. Not wanting to miss the opportunity we packed our bags and headed to Vagamon!
Paragliding (unlike parasailing where the string is attached to something- a jeep or a boat) is really flying freely in the skies! An instructor will control the chute and you get to sit and enjoy the views! Over phone we were instructed to reach the place at 10 in the morning and after some walk in the hot scorching sun we reached... well nowhere! there was no activity to be seen and no equipment and nobody looking as if they are about to glide. Airtel as usual displayed no signal and we did not know how far to walk or whom to ask. A gang of 8 people and a couple joined us who had also come for the paragliding and we all started walking in search of some sign. We finally gave up and sat in the sun cursing the organisers and after almost an hour a jeep and bike slowly came toward us.
It was only later we came to know that the winds will pick up only after the heat rises from below the valley and paragliding is never done early in the morning for the same reason. We complained with the guy for sometime saying he should have informed us but he just shrugged it off! One of the instructors decided to do a test jump to check the winds and it was still picking up.
There are two things that are important in paragliding- wind and also the weight of the person. It is easier to carry a less weighing person in light winds but as the wind picks up the instructor usually prefers a heavier person! Me being the lightest person in the entire group (Yes, out of some 13-14 people!) was chosen first for the ride.
Instructor said I will have to run till the edge of the cliff and just let go! Like jumping off a cliff only instead of going down we would eventually come up! The wind was so good that we flew off even before we reached the edge of the land and there I was- flying in the air! we circled around once and slowly gained altitude and I could see the entire Vagamon and the mountains beyond and what a sight it was!
The instructor was from Himachal Pradesh and was finishing up his mandatory flying hours before being advanced certified and we spoke for quite sometime about the sport, it's risks etc. while flying. After some 10 minutes of flying he asked me how I was feeling and asked me to hold on and before I realised what was happening did a flip! Then came the rapid downward move and a quick upward one which left me feeling wobbly for a minute! Depending on wind we changed our directions and went alot further to slowly come back!
After what felt like 5 minutes which actually turned out to be 25 minutes we finally smoothly landed. Unlike at most other places at Vagamon you land back where you flew from, that is not below but on top of the hill itself! You can fly up to 3500 feet.
There was a huge crowd by the time we landed and many men were staring at me. Even with language barrier few men came to ask me was I not scared and how was the scenery above! After mine, every other flight seemed to take forever as the wind suddenly became unfriendly and they struggled to take off. After having some cool buttermilk and soda we headed back to our hotel!
That feeling of wind on your face and the views of distant valleys takes only a minute to make you fall in love with the whole thing! Paragliding is relatively risk free and definitely a must try once in life! So what are you waiting for? Vagamon is calling!
A friend while going through Facebook saw somebody's post on Paragliding in Kerala. He rang me up immediately saying something about Vagamon and I first thought he was talking about Vagator in Goa. And as it turns out many people don't even know this place exists! After some research came to know that this small hill station in Idukki is the Paragliding hub of Kerala! Fly Vagamon is the institute we flew with. Even the Govt. of Kerala promotes the activity and conducts a Paragliding festival once a year when you can fly for free!
After a call to the Fly Vagamon came to know that the flying season will end in two week's time as weather and winds will not be conducive after 3rd week of April and flying will restart only in October next year. Not wanting to miss the opportunity we packed our bags and headed to Vagamon!
Paragliding (unlike parasailing where the string is attached to something- a jeep or a boat) is really flying freely in the skies! An instructor will control the chute and you get to sit and enjoy the views! Over phone we were instructed to reach the place at 10 in the morning and after some walk in the hot scorching sun we reached... well nowhere! there was no activity to be seen and no equipment and nobody looking as if they are about to glide. Airtel as usual displayed no signal and we did not know how far to walk or whom to ask. A gang of 8 people and a couple joined us who had also come for the paragliding and we all started walking in search of some sign. We finally gave up and sat in the sun cursing the organisers and after almost an hour a jeep and bike slowly came toward us.
It was only later we came to know that the winds will pick up only after the heat rises from below the valley and paragliding is never done early in the morning for the same reason. We complained with the guy for sometime saying he should have informed us but he just shrugged it off! One of the instructors decided to do a test jump to check the winds and it was still picking up.
There are two things that are important in paragliding- wind and also the weight of the person. It is easier to carry a less weighing person in light winds but as the wind picks up the instructor usually prefers a heavier person! Me being the lightest person in the entire group (Yes, out of some 13-14 people!) was chosen first for the ride.
Instructor said I will have to run till the edge of the cliff and just let go! Like jumping off a cliff only instead of going down we would eventually come up! The wind was so good that we flew off even before we reached the edge of the land and there I was- flying in the air! we circled around once and slowly gained altitude and I could see the entire Vagamon and the mountains beyond and what a sight it was!
The instructor was from Himachal Pradesh and was finishing up his mandatory flying hours before being advanced certified and we spoke for quite sometime about the sport, it's risks etc. while flying. After some 10 minutes of flying he asked me how I was feeling and asked me to hold on and before I realised what was happening did a flip! Then came the rapid downward move and a quick upward one which left me feeling wobbly for a minute! Depending on wind we changed our directions and went alot further to slowly come back!
After what felt like 5 minutes which actually turned out to be 25 minutes we finally smoothly landed. Unlike at most other places at Vagamon you land back where you flew from, that is not below but on top of the hill itself! You can fly up to 3500 feet.
There was a huge crowd by the time we landed and many men were staring at me. Even with language barrier few men came to ask me was I not scared and how was the scenery above! After mine, every other flight seemed to take forever as the wind suddenly became unfriendly and they struggled to take off. After having some cool buttermilk and soda we headed back to our hotel!
That feeling of wind on your face and the views of distant valleys takes only a minute to make you fall in love with the whole thing! Paragliding is relatively risk free and definitely a must try once in life! So what are you waiting for? Vagamon is calling!
 |
| Geeting ready to take off! |
 |
| Threads, check! |
 |
| A view from below! |
 |
| Up and a smile! |
Comments
Post a Comment