Though paragliding has been on my bucket-list of must dos never did i think of including it on my DIY Cordillera trip itinerary...Heard/Read about people doin it somewhere in Carmona Cavite in one of the blogs i came across with...The paragliding photos that were in carmona didnt appeal that much since it was just a small hill overlooking a small congested subdivision....So i said to myself before that if ever i were to do it then it would be somewhere in Nepal with the Himalayas as the background...that is if i can actually afford such pricey adventure ride... In some turn of events on my third day in the cordilleras my German travel buddy spotted a small paragliding add @ the door in the guesthouse where we stayed at...It stirred my attention and thought of tryin the stuff since it is in Bontoc, a small town where we passed by a day before. Bontoc is a municipality/town that has a quaint rustic and laid back feeling. So yeah, it gave me even more reasons to actually make Bontoc as one of my stopovers rather than just having a peek of it along the highway bus... Upon arrival i met Armand Dard @ Goldfish cafe that is in itself a cozy place to discuss stuff prior to the flight. A french Pilot whos been coming back n forth to the Phil the last couple of years, Armand seems very cool and accommodating. He has pioneered Paragliding in our country and i was surprised that it was also him who had flown people in Carmona Cavite and in Saranggani province, He was the IT GUY ive read on the web. Along with Armand we took a van and went uphill together with Kuya June who apparently was a singer/musician. With a huge guitar at his back we trekked along a path on a plateau overlooking the windy valley of Bontoc..As we went by the trek i get to know more of Kuya June and found out that he is a pro singer of ethnic and folk songs, most of which entails the igorot way of life. As we walked along i already could not contain my excitement since the plateau itself looks comparable to a golf course lawn on top of a mountain, added to that i was looking forward to the ride. @ the edge of the cliff was a scenery worthy of a thousand snapshots. I Lost words to describe how i felt...just so overwhelming that u just have to be there to feel and see all of mother natures glory in sync with mankinds ingenuity. I roamed around as Armand was still checking the wind whether it was just right to make it possible for us to fly. Paragliding takes a matter of sheer luck, if the wind is too strong then its too risky and if its too weak all youll do is just plummet down the valley in a few minutes time without having to enjoy the flips and turns. According to Armand 2 days before our trip he also had 3 guests with him, unfortunately they werent able to fly since the wind was too strong....At that time i was kind off loosing hope since i felt as well a strong gust of wind hitting my face. Then Kuya June started strumming his guitar and sang a folk song called IGOROTA..Hearing the melody and the lyrics was like nirvana. I got goosebumps! Thats how good it was. Then the unthinkable happened, just right after he finished the song the wind calmed down. It worked! , me and armand shouted altogether. We had everything ready, a short briefing regarding safety measures and maneuvers and then off we go up into the air. I thought at first that since it was a parachute looking kind of thing then wed just glide down until we reach the valley below. However i was wrong, with the perfect wind condition that day Armand could actually make us stay at the same elevation, go sideways, make flips and turns and all possible maneuvers, and even more he could go at a much higher elevation which he actually did. It was like a roller coaster ride in the air.....but much better!!! After several minutes we landed up at the same take off area. Then Kuya june had his turn with a guitar...Yep, thats right, so how cool is that!!! They even made a video up in the air while June was playing his guitar and singing a folk song at the same time. I hope the DOT could somewhat make it a part of their travel add video. After the stint made by armand and june, we packed everything so we could leave already. While waiting for the van we exchanged words and stories of pretty much anything we could talk about. Tired from waiting Armand asked me if Id like to fly again, but this time it would go downhill and land into the riverbank right at the center of the valley. Without any hesitation i said YES!...and then down we went...I made it in 1 piece. We landed exactly at the riverbank. According to the manager of Goldfish cafe and kuya june i was the first one who had 2 rides without having to pay for anything extra. It was simply amazing and i thought for a while that maybe the universe conspired and made everything so perfect that i got this lucky to have experienced such a thing.... Thanks to : Armand Dard and Jun Utleg
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 04:48:17 +0000
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