..a good bye should always be a blast! this time, it was so incredibly wonderful that it was no real good bye. Seems that I´m staying a couple of days more, before I head (really speeded up) to Ecuador ;)
I´ve seen, it´s some days ago that I made my last entry.. I remember having good times, more flights (even if mostly connected to a good ammount of waiting) and being together with Myle above all! :D
now I have 42 flights with about 14 hours of airtime :D made a movie high up in the air and uploaded it into my Facebook ;) had after a stunning flight (I was the first one getting into the thermal and just three of us made it). Going high up, being the last back on ground but during the toplanding in the weak morning winds, I blew it and ended up in the cafeteria :P bummer! would have been a flawless victory, but after that dramatic action, I can´t say that any more ;) hehe :) so what happened was that I ran out of ground in front of me and didn´t pump right, also failed to take the right decision and abort the landing. Instead used my legs to stop my flight into a roof ;) and didn´t get a single scratch of that adventure!! ;D was a good experience.. toplandings are tricky ;)
during full moon, Myle and I sat outside in the grass and enjoyed the changing night sky of Bucaramanga.. yes, really wonderful and magic times!!
we went out on Saturday, eat going to Richies house in the mountains, going back to town to party, staying over night in Richies house again and then leaving the next day to Mesa de los Santos, a beautiful (Swiss like ;) landscape 2000 m.a.s.l. with stunning views into the vallies.. went to the deunde falls and had just greatest (and craziest ;) times ever!!!! :D
..so, what should I do.. I feel, that another few days here are so precious and special that I shouldn´t miss this opportunity. On the other hand, the real good bye will be even more painful, after passing another strongly unifying week together.. but love has it´s own ways and keep going with the flow.
I still have some projects in mind here that I will work on while not being able to fly. But having some extra days of flying isn´t the worst thing after all ;) hehe :)
so Richy drove us back and forth, up and down all in a safe manner, took us to the lake and to the property of his sister where we were driving around with ATVs at night ;) hehe :) I´m feeling very connected to these people! and I´m happy to have found such friends along my way!! Myle is just incredible! surprises me with many things and has so much love for me.. we´re having the best times ever!! :D this is for sure one of the deeper and more important experiences in my life!
hmm.. what more.. I´ll keep you posted ;)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
..the end is nigh..
..the thought brings a bitter taste of melancholy, but in one week from now on, I will continue my way down South. Yes.. good-byes are always hard, but they bring room for other growth. I think, I´ll need at least seven riding days to get to Ecuador and stopping a bit along the way will delay me until mid of September to cross the boarder. But I will enjoy the time here in Colombia.. shouldn´t be sad, if I don´t stop in a place for longer; had this just enough. Maybe I shouldn´t think too much about the schedule of my trip ;) Maybe I´ll be late to get all the way down, but I don´t intend to do that anyway.. it could be too cold or snowy, if I get there, but I´ll see.. I´ll figure it all out, but living here in the present and letting the future come :) Was all very Epic on this trip.. and it´s starts getting better and better.. I´m a skydiver and paragliding pilot ;) and have all the reason to be truely happy (or to keep heading at least direction true happiness ;) I had, have and will have incredible times on this trip.. seeing, experiencing and living things, I´ve never dreamed off, I never new they existed or they could be achieved along the way. Well.. glad, I took off, headed out and went exploring this world! Even if it was just for making groceries or going to town, I was happy to have a ride and made it safely with my passenger through the streets of Bucaramanga! :) (already got some sense for driving in this town :)
this morning we went over to another site.. finally a lot of hassle for a 10 minute flight (others flew even less) because just weak thermals and (as I can say now) much more of a Pro site. But anyway.. next to the folding up twice the canopy, it was a more spectacular launch and the fun of flying along new mountains with the special pleasure to land in a football stadium! :D that I have to admit, is pretty wicked! :)) ..now at the basecamp again, waiting for the gas, so I can make some pasta and hoping for some nice ridge soaring and top landing in the afternoon. I feel still super newbie, exept for they give me a paper now that should let me fly in other places ;) but no worries.. I´ll pick my sites for sure carefully.. some fun soaring along ridges, where wind is constant and given at a certain hour.. just the easy and fun stuff.. because otherwise you end up packing your glider in a very remote place with a long hike :/ even weak and disappearing thermals can shorten the fun to a few minutes. But let´s see what sites are there in South America :) I heard about some good dune soaring in Chile.. will for sure check it out! :)
here my friend had some tree and bush landings (it´s more forgiving than you think, exept the time and effort it takes to free the canopy and the 1001 lines ;) haha ;))
so better head for the landing zone, even if you´re doomed there to go down because of no upwind than getting too greedy and finally loosing too much altitude to make it there (and then maybe take the wrong decision to try it..) all about making the right decision at the right moment (what needs a lot of experience). But I now feel I mastered the Earth, the Sea and the Air ;) ..for fire there didn´t come a lot to my mind yet ;) hehe :) but yes.. nice to feel comfortable with these elements, as my Dad is as well.. even flew sailing planes and can drive trucks and steer boats :)
Ok.. the gas arrived! :D
will later on update my pictures online (my cam is so broken, made me trouble to access it :( having a new one soon..
this morning we went over to another site.. finally a lot of hassle for a 10 minute flight (others flew even less) because just weak thermals and (as I can say now) much more of a Pro site. But anyway.. next to the folding up twice the canopy, it was a more spectacular launch and the fun of flying along new mountains with the special pleasure to land in a football stadium! :D that I have to admit, is pretty wicked! :)) ..now at the basecamp again, waiting for the gas, so I can make some pasta and hoping for some nice ridge soaring and top landing in the afternoon. I feel still super newbie, exept for they give me a paper now that should let me fly in other places ;) but no worries.. I´ll pick my sites for sure carefully.. some fun soaring along ridges, where wind is constant and given at a certain hour.. just the easy and fun stuff.. because otherwise you end up packing your glider in a very remote place with a long hike :/ even weak and disappearing thermals can shorten the fun to a few minutes. But let´s see what sites are there in South America :) I heard about some good dune soaring in Chile.. will for sure check it out! :)
here my friend had some tree and bush landings (it´s more forgiving than you think, exept the time and effort it takes to free the canopy and the 1001 lines ;) haha ;))
so better head for the landing zone, even if you´re doomed there to go down because of no upwind than getting too greedy and finally loosing too much altitude to make it there (and then maybe take the wrong decision to try it..) all about making the right decision at the right moment (what needs a lot of experience). But I now feel I mastered the Earth, the Sea and the Air ;) ..for fire there didn´t come a lot to my mind yet ;) hehe :) but yes.. nice to feel comfortable with these elements, as my Dad is as well.. even flew sailing planes and can drive trucks and steer boats :)
Ok.. the gas arrived! :D
will later on update my pictures online (my cam is so broken, made me trouble to access it :( having a new one soon..
Thursday, August 19, 2010
..higher and higher..
hell yeah!!! what a great morning this was! :)
yesterday I got pretty pissed in the morning.. no thermals, just some glides down to the landind zone and a lot, a lot of waiting! :( improved my patiance to the max and over stretched it :P they call it also parawaiting and there´s a lot of it!!
then in the afternoon, after I picked up Myle my girlfriend, I had some exciting ridge soaring, where you fly along the ridge here in front of the house, together with three top landings (landing on the same spot where you took off). There´s not a lot of space and strong winds, so you need the right technics, but with some help over the radio, it was possible.. well.. also landed two times on my ass, but you get this huge, soft harness with an airbag that protects you from getting a sore ass or a spinal injury.. so glad to have that ;) hehe :)
then I had a wonder, wonderful evening with my love here!!! giving massages, watching Sweeny Todd and drinking Rum and Coke :D haha :))) oh yeah.. it was GREAT!! best times ever! :D
I also got some moments where I felt more "down" and low energy, because there are so many moments that are just EPIC! where I couldn´t be any happier than I am and I feel like this is the place and the moment to be.. for example, laying in Myles arms and feeling her hand caressing my neck.. watching some good movie together or being too distracted by our hot kisses ;) hehe :) yes.. really good times!
but then there are moments where she has to stay home (with her Mom) and I´m just having a rainy no-fly day here, being along and missing my sweetheart.. so a bit of ups and downs, but the ups are "very strong lifts", as you would call it in the Paragliding language ;) hehe :)
so then this morning, waking up late in Myle´s arms, having short breakfast and getting my stuff out on the field, waiting for about half an hour, before some nice thermals showed up. My Dutch friends took off but didn´t catch any upwind and when I started a bit later I got really good lifts.. I went up about 1000m above the landing zone and it really looked high!!! ..got a bit scared up there.. it´s so mental to fly with an inflatable wing attached to some fabric chair ;) haha ;)) yes.. glad it was not too shaky up there.. so I hit one thermal after the other, was turning in left circles until my abdomen and my neck were hurting and then switching to right circles until it got too painful ;) was up there for more than an hour and finally decided then to go landing because I couldn´t stand it anymore :P I heard, it´s all about being relaxed in that chair up there, but your body tends to tension up if you´re in high altitudes.. so probably have to get used to that more.. but really, really f**king awesome cool! :D ..you have to love it!! haha ;)
I mean, this is not like a tandem flight.. it´s just you up there and my good buddy Russell down on the ground, giving me some radio instruction (really helps at the moment ;)
it´s just.. if you´re flying, you have to be present and aware all the time. Feel the lifts and the sinks in the air, see that you don´t get kicked out of the thermal because you don´t turn fast enough. keep the right ammount of pressure on your breaks, lean as far out as you can (as you dare ;) to have a good wight shift and don´t let it throw you around in the chair too much. Sometimes I get thrown to one side, loosing balance in the chair and messing up with the controls, because you can´t hold on to anything exept for your breaking handles up there (that you´re not supposed to mess up with ;) hehe :)
and then the birds.. beautiful black vultures that are marking the circle of the thermal for you and accompanying you on your way up (or me accompanying them ;) hehe :) they are so close.. sometimes taking evading actions to not fly into you or just playing with each other hundreds of meters above ground.. I LOVE IT!!!! :D haha :)
once landed, I felt my sore body and just needed to relax.. still wanting to go back up there.. once you´re getting high, it makes it all so much easier.. you have plenty of altitude to burn to find another lift. You can fly whereever you see birds circling and "land" on top of the hot air.. sometimes you have to wait until you get further down, where the thermal is developing and taking you up again into the sky!
then it becomes also clear why we just get a P2 beginner licence here and it´s not valid in Switzerland.. there is so much more to know about and to practice that we could do here in such a short time! if there are no birds, I would not now where to fly.. and there are so many different fly sites with different conditions.. I´ll feel confortable to get a glider somewhere and go with people who know flying and then circle with them in the thermals.. we just get the basics here.. how it works, starting, landing, more experience of feeling wind movement and circeling in the air (with wight shift and the right break pressure). So it´s a nice way to get into it and a lot of fun (next to the waiting ;) hehe :) but it would take way more to be able to do all this on my own.. still, I´m glad to be here and learning something about it, having the opportunity to fly on my own through the skies and getting another unforgettable experience! ;) haha :D and hey.. after all it´s flying!! can´t expect all the airodynamics and meterology to be that simple ;) and then you need a loooot of practise to be able to handle all kind of situations.. as snowboarding, as surfing as almost every sport that takes time to learn and get a deeper understanding for it. But I´d like to do the special maneuver course to become more confident and then to fly on my way down to Patagonia.. heard there´s a nice place in Chile, where you can fly over dunes along the beach.. sound´s pretty sweet to me! ;) hehe :)
OK.. I gonna rest for a while and soon we might be on the field again for some dynamic flights in the afternoon.. :D weeeehaaa!! :D
yesterday I got pretty pissed in the morning.. no thermals, just some glides down to the landind zone and a lot, a lot of waiting! :( improved my patiance to the max and over stretched it :P they call it also parawaiting and there´s a lot of it!!
then in the afternoon, after I picked up Myle my girlfriend, I had some exciting ridge soaring, where you fly along the ridge here in front of the house, together with three top landings (landing on the same spot where you took off). There´s not a lot of space and strong winds, so you need the right technics, but with some help over the radio, it was possible.. well.. also landed two times on my ass, but you get this huge, soft harness with an airbag that protects you from getting a sore ass or a spinal injury.. so glad to have that ;) hehe :)
then I had a wonder, wonderful evening with my love here!!! giving massages, watching Sweeny Todd and drinking Rum and Coke :D haha :))) oh yeah.. it was GREAT!! best times ever! :D
I also got some moments where I felt more "down" and low energy, because there are so many moments that are just EPIC! where I couldn´t be any happier than I am and I feel like this is the place and the moment to be.. for example, laying in Myles arms and feeling her hand caressing my neck.. watching some good movie together or being too distracted by our hot kisses ;) hehe :) yes.. really good times!
but then there are moments where she has to stay home (with her Mom) and I´m just having a rainy no-fly day here, being along and missing my sweetheart.. so a bit of ups and downs, but the ups are "very strong lifts", as you would call it in the Paragliding language ;) hehe :)
so then this morning, waking up late in Myle´s arms, having short breakfast and getting my stuff out on the field, waiting for about half an hour, before some nice thermals showed up. My Dutch friends took off but didn´t catch any upwind and when I started a bit later I got really good lifts.. I went up about 1000m above the landing zone and it really looked high!!! ..got a bit scared up there.. it´s so mental to fly with an inflatable wing attached to some fabric chair ;) haha ;)) yes.. glad it was not too shaky up there.. so I hit one thermal after the other, was turning in left circles until my abdomen and my neck were hurting and then switching to right circles until it got too painful ;) was up there for more than an hour and finally decided then to go landing because I couldn´t stand it anymore :P I heard, it´s all about being relaxed in that chair up there, but your body tends to tension up if you´re in high altitudes.. so probably have to get used to that more.. but really, really f**king awesome cool! :D ..you have to love it!! haha ;)
I mean, this is not like a tandem flight.. it´s just you up there and my good buddy Russell down on the ground, giving me some radio instruction (really helps at the moment ;)
it´s just.. if you´re flying, you have to be present and aware all the time. Feel the lifts and the sinks in the air, see that you don´t get kicked out of the thermal because you don´t turn fast enough. keep the right ammount of pressure on your breaks, lean as far out as you can (as you dare ;) to have a good wight shift and don´t let it throw you around in the chair too much. Sometimes I get thrown to one side, loosing balance in the chair and messing up with the controls, because you can´t hold on to anything exept for your breaking handles up there (that you´re not supposed to mess up with ;) hehe :)
and then the birds.. beautiful black vultures that are marking the circle of the thermal for you and accompanying you on your way up (or me accompanying them ;) hehe :) they are so close.. sometimes taking evading actions to not fly into you or just playing with each other hundreds of meters above ground.. I LOVE IT!!!! :D haha :)
once landed, I felt my sore body and just needed to relax.. still wanting to go back up there.. once you´re getting high, it makes it all so much easier.. you have plenty of altitude to burn to find another lift. You can fly whereever you see birds circling and "land" on top of the hot air.. sometimes you have to wait until you get further down, where the thermal is developing and taking you up again into the sky!
then it becomes also clear why we just get a P2 beginner licence here and it´s not valid in Switzerland.. there is so much more to know about and to practice that we could do here in such a short time! if there are no birds, I would not now where to fly.. and there are so many different fly sites with different conditions.. I´ll feel confortable to get a glider somewhere and go with people who know flying and then circle with them in the thermals.. we just get the basics here.. how it works, starting, landing, more experience of feeling wind movement and circeling in the air (with wight shift and the right break pressure). So it´s a nice way to get into it and a lot of fun (next to the waiting ;) hehe :) but it would take way more to be able to do all this on my own.. still, I´m glad to be here and learning something about it, having the opportunity to fly on my own through the skies and getting another unforgettable experience! ;) haha :D and hey.. after all it´s flying!! can´t expect all the airodynamics and meterology to be that simple ;) and then you need a loooot of practise to be able to handle all kind of situations.. as snowboarding, as surfing as almost every sport that takes time to learn and get a deeper understanding for it. But I´d like to do the special maneuver course to become more confident and then to fly on my way down to Patagonia.. heard there´s a nice place in Chile, where you can fly over dunes along the beach.. sound´s pretty sweet to me! ;) hehe :)
OK.. I gonna rest for a while and soon we might be on the field again for some dynamic flights in the afternoon.. :D weeeehaaa!! :D
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
..time´s flying by..
phew.. that were quite some take offs and landing I had here in the last seven days, and I´m not only taking about paragliding ;) hehe :)
the weather seems to have changed for good and I hope I can spend a good ammount of time in the air during the next days. Having 14 flights and about 3hrs of airtime now (could be more, but was also a lot of partying ;) and some days where we couldn´t fly.
Here was a very nice electro party on the weekend, just around the corner.. was AWESOME!!! haha! :D having best times ever here (a good thing to say, because "best times" can only result out of the present moment.. means I´m keeping it up with my joy of life ;) :)) We met a Dj from Argentina in the street the day before and made friends. So when we showed up, he was just about to get in and took us in for free! :D even with access to the VIP area that totally rocked by being in front of the stage and having more space for dancing :) so it were wonderful moments spent together with a wonderful girl and enjoying most beautiful energies! :)
hmm.. yes.. that´s probably it. I wouldn´t know what more to tell you, exept I´m having best times ever here and learn how to paraglide ;) hehe :)
so I guess I will hit Patagonia on January and not in December and will have to speed up a little bit along the way. Here I will start in about 10 days to two weeks. ..it´s hard to say (even harder to think about :/ but the trip continues)
so no worries about me ;) safe and sound on a mystic mountain in the middle of mountains :)
wishing you all the best and life on! :)
P.S. oh yeah.. about flying through the skies ;) to me the most tricky thing is to manage your "fuel" (the altitude) while flying around. Turns slow you down, letting you loose altitude, so just turn when you feel the upwind from a thermal. But because you don´t see them and accumulations of birds (indication for thermals) suddenly disappear, you have to make it still back to the LZ (Landing Zone). But then the landing and putting your feet back on the ground is not so hard.. just wait for the right timing and make a flare (or pumpy flare) and slow down your speed. Then flying in the air is also tricky.. can get a bit shaky up there and your supposed to lean in a direction and maintain the controls. It might also happen that a wingtip collapses for a short moment.. it´s auto recovery and you can anticipate it and react to it.. so it´s a lot of flying experience you have to get. But then I heard about an SIV course in Ecuador, where they show you how to recover and throw an emergency chute and all that stuff over water in a safe environment. Kinda like these courses for driving cars where you learn how to slide and recover. So I´d like to go for it and get some expercience about what to do if you have a collapse in the air. ..ok.. now of for lunch :D
the weather seems to have changed for good and I hope I can spend a good ammount of time in the air during the next days. Having 14 flights and about 3hrs of airtime now (could be more, but was also a lot of partying ;) and some days where we couldn´t fly.
Here was a very nice electro party on the weekend, just around the corner.. was AWESOME!!! haha! :D having best times ever here (a good thing to say, because "best times" can only result out of the present moment.. means I´m keeping it up with my joy of life ;) :)) We met a Dj from Argentina in the street the day before and made friends. So when we showed up, he was just about to get in and took us in for free! :D even with access to the VIP area that totally rocked by being in front of the stage and having more space for dancing :) so it were wonderful moments spent together with a wonderful girl and enjoying most beautiful energies! :)
hmm.. yes.. that´s probably it. I wouldn´t know what more to tell you, exept I´m having best times ever here and learn how to paraglide ;) hehe :)
so I guess I will hit Patagonia on January and not in December and will have to speed up a little bit along the way. Here I will start in about 10 days to two weeks. ..it´s hard to say (even harder to think about :/ but the trip continues)
so no worries about me ;) safe and sound on a mystic mountain in the middle of mountains :)
wishing you all the best and life on! :)
P.S. oh yeah.. about flying through the skies ;) to me the most tricky thing is to manage your "fuel" (the altitude) while flying around. Turns slow you down, letting you loose altitude, so just turn when you feel the upwind from a thermal. But because you don´t see them and accumulations of birds (indication for thermals) suddenly disappear, you have to make it still back to the LZ (Landing Zone). But then the landing and putting your feet back on the ground is not so hard.. just wait for the right timing and make a flare (or pumpy flare) and slow down your speed. Then flying in the air is also tricky.. can get a bit shaky up there and your supposed to lean in a direction and maintain the controls. It might also happen that a wingtip collapses for a short moment.. it´s auto recovery and you can anticipate it and react to it.. so it´s a lot of flying experience you have to get. But then I heard about an SIV course in Ecuador, where they show you how to recover and throw an emergency chute and all that stuff over water in a safe environment. Kinda like these courses for driving cars where you learn how to slide and recover. So I´d like to go for it and get some expercience about what to do if you have a collapse in the air. ..ok.. now of for lunch :D
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
-=AIRBORNE=-
YESSSS!!! ..finally my first solo flights with a paraglider.. do I have to tell you that this totally rocks!! :D ;) haha ;))
"those who know how it is to fly will walk upon the earth, looking up in the skies, wanting to go back there" - da vinci -
if you enjoyed kiting when you were a child, then you should try this! :) ..you run downhill, bringing up your glider and then run and run, off the edge, feeling how the wing is pulling you up in the air. You swiftly glide back into the seat and keep slight pressure on the breaks. You pass some air bubbles, making you swing back and forth, but you quickly compensate with the breaks. Seeing vultures circeling on the left and pull over to join their thermal, saying "hello" to your brother birds and feeling the wind pulling you gentle upwards..
man, I LOVE paragliding!! the only thing is that I never now how much I might gain or loose altitude on my path, because thermals and sinks are invisible :P just have to know the terrain and keep watching the birds.
I think that because of the correolis effect, thermals turn wether left or right, depending the hemisphere. This would also mean, that every single bird making circles on the sky turns the same direction (depending hemisphere) to turn upwind and now downwind.. have you ever thought about that? ;D
oh.. and here is a link to pictures of the lost-city-trek. A friend from France uploaded quite some of them and did a really good job! :) (haven´t uploaded mine)
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://picasaweb.google.fr/denis.mouthon/CiudadPerdidad?authkey=Gv1sRgCODG4sD3wa3T0gE&feat=directlink
--------------------------------------------------------------
today is a really beautiful, sunny day and I hope to get some more flights in the afternoon (did four short flights this morning for landing practise.. and works already pretty well! :D
got some rain over the weekend (didn´t bother for being in a honeymoon castle ;) and yesterday from midday to the late afternoon. Was really tired at night and crashed already at 8.30pm but then got woken up by my sweetheart at 10.30pm and got very special treat! ;D ..can it get any better??? hahaha :D
now I gonna make a soup and watch the rest of the learning DVDs.. as it looks, I got company tonight ;) hihi :D *biiiig smile*
"those who know how it is to fly will walk upon the earth, looking up in the skies, wanting to go back there" - da vinci -
if you enjoyed kiting when you were a child, then you should try this! :) ..you run downhill, bringing up your glider and then run and run, off the edge, feeling how the wing is pulling you up in the air. You swiftly glide back into the seat and keep slight pressure on the breaks. You pass some air bubbles, making you swing back and forth, but you quickly compensate with the breaks. Seeing vultures circeling on the left and pull over to join their thermal, saying "hello" to your brother birds and feeling the wind pulling you gentle upwards..
man, I LOVE paragliding!! the only thing is that I never now how much I might gain or loose altitude on my path, because thermals and sinks are invisible :P just have to know the terrain and keep watching the birds.
I think that because of the correolis effect, thermals turn wether left or right, depending the hemisphere. This would also mean, that every single bird making circles on the sky turns the same direction (depending hemisphere) to turn upwind and now downwind.. have you ever thought about that? ;D
oh.. and here is a link to pictures of the lost-city-trek. A friend from France uploaded quite some of them and did a really good job! :) (haven´t uploaded mine)
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://picasaweb.google.fr/denis.mouthon/CiudadPerdidad?authkey=Gv1sRgCODG4sD3wa3T0gE&feat=directlink
--------------------------------------------------------------
today is a really beautiful, sunny day and I hope to get some more flights in the afternoon (did four short flights this morning for landing practise.. and works already pretty well! :D
got some rain over the weekend (didn´t bother for being in a honeymoon castle ;) and yesterday from midday to the late afternoon. Was really tired at night and crashed already at 8.30pm but then got woken up by my sweetheart at 10.30pm and got very special treat! ;D ..can it get any better??? hahaha :D
now I gonna make a soup and watch the rest of the learning DVDs.. as it looks, I got company tonight ;) hihi :D *biiiig smile*
Monday, August 9, 2010
..from falling to flying.. :)
yes.. some days have been passed and I was just too busy to update my blog :D
so here I am, in the mountains of Bucaramanga (the hostel and fly site have a stunning view onto the city.. beautiful day and night! :)
so the ride back here was pretty long (another 15 hours in a bus) and then there was still this blocked road and we had to walk a good 40 minutes, before an army truck picked us up to bring us to the end of the waiting line of cars. I heard, they didn´t fix it, because some people got money (bribes) by letting trucks pass through the night :P would make sense and would be a shame, because so many people getting delayed and economy loosing money just because somebody wants to make some profit. So yes.. this landslide consisted over two weeks..
then lucky me, on the other side, there was a guy making some money by bringing people directly to Cucuta.. (no extra bus and public transportation). Paid the exit-fee for Venezuela ;) and got a new stamp from Colombia. Changed my money and got my bike (everything was still there! :) now having a new helmet that I got in Caracas.. better this way, the old one was sitting too loose. Well.. actually, I think helmets are cheaper here in Colombia :-/ but who could know that :P
then I had a 4-5 hour ride over this big mountain, back to Bucaramanga.. was a nice ride, exept at a certain point I drove into clouds and got a bit of rain (and had to activate my heated handle grips ;) hehe :) the view tough was very beautiful and I enjoyed the ride.. having some chicken rice soup and a coffee along the way for one dollar :)
with a bit searching, I found the hostel of Richi (the guy with the paragliding school) and stayed there for a night. I finally found out that this licence I´m making here is NOT valid in Switzerland, but as it brings me skill and experience, as it´s a lot of fun and can be used further down on this trip and maybe another time in another place (that´s not CH ;) ..and then above all, I met Myle again, a girl that I know from Taganga.. we just met a night going out and shared some incredible, electrifying kisses together! ;) changed emails and yes.. found ourselves again here in Bucaramange. This wonderful, breath taking beauty gives me so much love and care that I don´t think of leaving this place very soon ;) hehe :) well.. I´m still on my trip, but it could not be better than learning about paragliding, enjoying wonderful Colombia and being in love with a girl that could be miss Colombia! ;) I must get spoiled by being with her, but as a good friend once told me: never reject what universe offers you! :D
so since I´m here I got the rest of my stuff from the other hotel and moved to the mountains (20 min outside from the city place) and started to learn about paragliding.. handling of the glider, inflation, meteorology.. and I´m doing quite well! :D today I think, I gonna fly and learn how to land (I´m very confident about this, because I know landing with a parachute.. so flaring shouldn´t be a problem to me :) Looks like a lot of fun being up there on your own, crusing through the skies! I now also get the picture of this sport.. instead of hanging in a harness, you´re sitting in a comfy chair having way more sophisticated controls than a parachute has. It´s really interesting to learn about all this.. what your gear consists of, how you have to check the equipment and a lot of muscle-memory things you have to learn. I can also grasp now the vibe of kite surfing.. and it remembers me my childhood, when I used to have a kite. But this is by far the greatest application of a kite.. a kite that big that you can hang on to it and it takes you up in the skies!! :D HAHAHA!!! I LOVE IT!! ..once you´re into these light flying devices, you might also hear about delta gliders.. they are much faster and more dangerous (as it seems to me ;) it´s the adrenaline version of paragliding.. but I think, I won´t get that far.. it´s not that I have to be able to maneuvre every device mankind invented ;) but to be able to fly and land a paraglider is a "must" for me :)
then there was the birthday party of Richi the last friday.. lot´s of people came.. good party!!! :) made some firespinning, met local artists and had a great time with my girlfriend!! :))) well.. at a certain point her ex showed up and we had to displace (they were together for quite a while and he isn´t completely over it.. but they had the deal she goes out on Friday and he on Saturday.. so kinda lame he showed up :( anyway.. we made a move and ended up in the mountains on the other side of the valley. Some honeymoon castle close to a waterfall and natural swimming pools (with cooool water ;) but being a very nice place with kind people giving us a good treat. What more could you want than spending 24hrs with miss Colombia in such a place ;) hehe :) aaahh.. lucky me!!
the ride there and back was a bit challenging.. two people on the bike and some muddy, sliding parts, but we didn´t fall and the bike didn´t fail (my cooling systems finally works fine again! :D and it was waaaaay better than walking there and back (lazy me ;) ..maybe you´ll find a tagged picture of me and her on FB :) it´s totally perfect here.. as I told you.. being in love and flying through the clouds (not just literally, but for real! :D hahaha!! yes.. LIFE IS GREAT!! best times ever in Colombia! (just for those who think, traveling could bet boring after a year ;) hehe :)
now I´m getting ready for my flight today.. hear from me soon..
so here I am, in the mountains of Bucaramanga (the hostel and fly site have a stunning view onto the city.. beautiful day and night! :)
so the ride back here was pretty long (another 15 hours in a bus) and then there was still this blocked road and we had to walk a good 40 minutes, before an army truck picked us up to bring us to the end of the waiting line of cars. I heard, they didn´t fix it, because some people got money (bribes) by letting trucks pass through the night :P would make sense and would be a shame, because so many people getting delayed and economy loosing money just because somebody wants to make some profit. So yes.. this landslide consisted over two weeks..
then lucky me, on the other side, there was a guy making some money by bringing people directly to Cucuta.. (no extra bus and public transportation). Paid the exit-fee for Venezuela ;) and got a new stamp from Colombia. Changed my money and got my bike (everything was still there! :) now having a new helmet that I got in Caracas.. better this way, the old one was sitting too loose. Well.. actually, I think helmets are cheaper here in Colombia :-/ but who could know that :P
then I had a 4-5 hour ride over this big mountain, back to Bucaramanga.. was a nice ride, exept at a certain point I drove into clouds and got a bit of rain (and had to activate my heated handle grips ;) hehe :) the view tough was very beautiful and I enjoyed the ride.. having some chicken rice soup and a coffee along the way for one dollar :)
with a bit searching, I found the hostel of Richi (the guy with the paragliding school) and stayed there for a night. I finally found out that this licence I´m making here is NOT valid in Switzerland, but as it brings me skill and experience, as it´s a lot of fun and can be used further down on this trip and maybe another time in another place (that´s not CH ;) ..and then above all, I met Myle again, a girl that I know from Taganga.. we just met a night going out and shared some incredible, electrifying kisses together! ;) changed emails and yes.. found ourselves again here in Bucaramange. This wonderful, breath taking beauty gives me so much love and care that I don´t think of leaving this place very soon ;) hehe :) well.. I´m still on my trip, but it could not be better than learning about paragliding, enjoying wonderful Colombia and being in love with a girl that could be miss Colombia! ;) I must get spoiled by being with her, but as a good friend once told me: never reject what universe offers you! :D
so since I´m here I got the rest of my stuff from the other hotel and moved to the mountains (20 min outside from the city place) and started to learn about paragliding.. handling of the glider, inflation, meteorology.. and I´m doing quite well! :D today I think, I gonna fly and learn how to land (I´m very confident about this, because I know landing with a parachute.. so flaring shouldn´t be a problem to me :) Looks like a lot of fun being up there on your own, crusing through the skies! I now also get the picture of this sport.. instead of hanging in a harness, you´re sitting in a comfy chair having way more sophisticated controls than a parachute has. It´s really interesting to learn about all this.. what your gear consists of, how you have to check the equipment and a lot of muscle-memory things you have to learn. I can also grasp now the vibe of kite surfing.. and it remembers me my childhood, when I used to have a kite. But this is by far the greatest application of a kite.. a kite that big that you can hang on to it and it takes you up in the skies!! :D HAHAHA!!! I LOVE IT!! ..once you´re into these light flying devices, you might also hear about delta gliders.. they are much faster and more dangerous (as it seems to me ;) it´s the adrenaline version of paragliding.. but I think, I won´t get that far.. it´s not that I have to be able to maneuvre every device mankind invented ;) but to be able to fly and land a paraglider is a "must" for me :)
then there was the birthday party of Richi the last friday.. lot´s of people came.. good party!!! :) made some firespinning, met local artists and had a great time with my girlfriend!! :))) well.. at a certain point her ex showed up and we had to displace (they were together for quite a while and he isn´t completely over it.. but they had the deal she goes out on Friday and he on Saturday.. so kinda lame he showed up :( anyway.. we made a move and ended up in the mountains on the other side of the valley. Some honeymoon castle close to a waterfall and natural swimming pools (with cooool water ;) but being a very nice place with kind people giving us a good treat. What more could you want than spending 24hrs with miss Colombia in such a place ;) hehe :) aaahh.. lucky me!!
the ride there and back was a bit challenging.. two people on the bike and some muddy, sliding parts, but we didn´t fall and the bike didn´t fail (my cooling systems finally works fine again! :D and it was waaaaay better than walking there and back (lazy me ;) ..maybe you´ll find a tagged picture of me and her on FB :) it´s totally perfect here.. as I told you.. being in love and flying through the clouds (not just literally, but for real! :D hahaha!! yes.. LIFE IS GREAT!! best times ever in Colombia! (just for those who think, traveling could bet boring after a year ;) hehe :)
now I´m getting ready for my flight today.. hear from me soon..
Monday, August 2, 2010
I conquered the Skies!!! :D
hi out there! :)
I just got my FAI (international sport skydiving license) yesterday on our national holiday ;) hehe :)
had a good time here in Venezuela!! no pics (just me skydiving on FB) because my camera seems to be definitively broken now.. no idea what I should do. Maybe just make some pics with my cell phone (then getting a new camera seems not that necessary to me). furthermore I´m spending 200 USD today to get a new helmet :( ..but it´s a thing I don´t want to save money on.. it´s my mission of today and then straight to the terminal and a last long busride to my bike :)
spent Thursday in Higuerote, drinking beer at the beach with some people I met there. was good fun! :) then going out on Friday, ending with a very crazy story.. same the day before. Was just too much me by myself being in Higuerote :P ..well, survived it all and then the Saturday I was "safe" with people from the dropzone :) had lot´s of fun playing scrabble and taboo, drinking rum and coke and talking until early morning (well.. at a certain point I had to retire to get some rest for more skydiving ;)
and then about skydiving.. I really got into it.. after graduation, you know how to stabilize and turn and make front and backflips but since then I learned (and taught myself some more things ;) there are a lot of fun exits out of a plane.. diving out forward, letting fall backward, jumping out with a tripple frontflip and my favourite, making a step forward and then a backflip :D I´ve seen my friend jumping of a bridge like that, but would never dare it if there´s water to hit on. but in the air, there is nothing that can hurt you ;) heheh :)
once opening the chute, I got more practice in landing smoothly and on the spot you want to land and making radicals (turning hard left or right). Just have to be careful that there is nobody close to you.. but it´s fun!! :D you face down and got a lot of speed and physical forces working onto you :)
while falling, there are lots of things you can do.. for example the FreeFall, where you sit upright or fall head down (this is very hard to enter, but managed it for 2 seconds :D then the air catched me again and threw me around.. but once you go into box position (making an arc with your body) you´re stable again.
then there is a thing that´s called "tunnel". You take an arm in make a turn along the body-axis. keeping both arms in and make your body firm let´s you spin as you´re piercing through the air (I call this one "screwdriver" ;). Then I had the pleasure to jump three times with somebody else.. grabbing somebody´s arm and turning around or crossing arms and make a roll together or just varying with your relative hight and distance to each other (careful not to smash into each other.. can be super dangerous, if somebody can´t control himself in the air).
my craziest jump was with a friend that jumps for 25 years, having done base jumps at the Angel Falls and in Caracas (if seen a video.. crazycrazycrazy :) really good vibes with him and when we jumped together, he pulled me out of the plane and we "hold hands" the whole fall down, making crazy spins and turns, entering freefall head down and shouting out loudly for so much fun it was!!! :D :D gave me an idea, what skydiving can be ;) I really feel having this in my blood.. born without wings, but a flyer in my heart ;) hehe :) it´s all body-mind.. as Tai-Chi or my martial art stuff or contact juggling.. I´m stable even while turning one handed.. things just worked out for me as I tried them the first time! :)
asked a lot of stuff (as always curious I am in my life ;) about different parachutes, techniques, the whole mechanics of skydiving and the equipment. There is still a lot to try and whenever I get a chance, I´ll dive with a smile! :D hahaha :D
what more about that.. got a little movie that I want to upload on Facebook and changed my profile picture ;) there not too many of crazy people jumping out of planes ;) ..but no worries.. it´s actually really safe (just stay with a big cannopy until you know how to land with different wind). But there´s a safety device that activates if you would pass out in the air for some reason. There are safety margins to open your chute and if you get an emergency (will happen in a certain moment), then you know how to liberate the primary chute and land with the reserve. I´ve seen that two days ago and people were just: "someone opened the reserve" without lot´s of excitement.. seems just to happen from time to time ;) but it´s very rare.. the equipment has improved a lot over the last years! (as diving).
so.. now I have to go.. next time writing I´ll be in Colombia and if something more occurs to my mind, I´ll let you know ;) haha ;))
Blue Sky!
Markus
I just got my FAI (international sport skydiving license) yesterday on our national holiday ;) hehe :)
had a good time here in Venezuela!! no pics (just me skydiving on FB) because my camera seems to be definitively broken now.. no idea what I should do. Maybe just make some pics with my cell phone (then getting a new camera seems not that necessary to me). furthermore I´m spending 200 USD today to get a new helmet :( ..but it´s a thing I don´t want to save money on.. it´s my mission of today and then straight to the terminal and a last long busride to my bike :)
spent Thursday in Higuerote, drinking beer at the beach with some people I met there. was good fun! :) then going out on Friday, ending with a very crazy story.. same the day before. Was just too much me by myself being in Higuerote :P ..well, survived it all and then the Saturday I was "safe" with people from the dropzone :) had lot´s of fun playing scrabble and taboo, drinking rum and coke and talking until early morning (well.. at a certain point I had to retire to get some rest for more skydiving ;)
and then about skydiving.. I really got into it.. after graduation, you know how to stabilize and turn and make front and backflips but since then I learned (and taught myself some more things ;) there are a lot of fun exits out of a plane.. diving out forward, letting fall backward, jumping out with a tripple frontflip and my favourite, making a step forward and then a backflip :D I´ve seen my friend jumping of a bridge like that, but would never dare it if there´s water to hit on. but in the air, there is nothing that can hurt you ;) heheh :)
once opening the chute, I got more practice in landing smoothly and on the spot you want to land and making radicals (turning hard left or right). Just have to be careful that there is nobody close to you.. but it´s fun!! :D you face down and got a lot of speed and physical forces working onto you :)
while falling, there are lots of things you can do.. for example the FreeFall, where you sit upright or fall head down (this is very hard to enter, but managed it for 2 seconds :D then the air catched me again and threw me around.. but once you go into box position (making an arc with your body) you´re stable again.
then there is a thing that´s called "tunnel". You take an arm in make a turn along the body-axis. keeping both arms in and make your body firm let´s you spin as you´re piercing through the air (I call this one "screwdriver" ;). Then I had the pleasure to jump three times with somebody else.. grabbing somebody´s arm and turning around or crossing arms and make a roll together or just varying with your relative hight and distance to each other (careful not to smash into each other.. can be super dangerous, if somebody can´t control himself in the air).
my craziest jump was with a friend that jumps for 25 years, having done base jumps at the Angel Falls and in Caracas (if seen a video.. crazycrazycrazy :) really good vibes with him and when we jumped together, he pulled me out of the plane and we "hold hands" the whole fall down, making crazy spins and turns, entering freefall head down and shouting out loudly for so much fun it was!!! :D :D gave me an idea, what skydiving can be ;) I really feel having this in my blood.. born without wings, but a flyer in my heart ;) hehe :) it´s all body-mind.. as Tai-Chi or my martial art stuff or contact juggling.. I´m stable even while turning one handed.. things just worked out for me as I tried them the first time! :)
asked a lot of stuff (as always curious I am in my life ;) about different parachutes, techniques, the whole mechanics of skydiving and the equipment. There is still a lot to try and whenever I get a chance, I´ll dive with a smile! :D hahaha :D
what more about that.. got a little movie that I want to upload on Facebook and changed my profile picture ;) there not too many of crazy people jumping out of planes ;) ..but no worries.. it´s actually really safe (just stay with a big cannopy until you know how to land with different wind). But there´s a safety device that activates if you would pass out in the air for some reason. There are safety margins to open your chute and if you get an emergency (will happen in a certain moment), then you know how to liberate the primary chute and land with the reserve. I´ve seen that two days ago and people were just: "someone opened the reserve" without lot´s of excitement.. seems just to happen from time to time ;) but it´s very rare.. the equipment has improved a lot over the last years! (as diving).
so.. now I have to go.. next time writing I´ll be in Colombia and if something more occurs to my mind, I´ll let you know ;) haha ;))
Blue Sky!
Markus
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