Aerial suspense

A professional paragliding pilot can fly for hours and hit dizzying heights. According to Milan, the Nepali national record is more than 7,000 meters above sea level and the pilot had to use an oxygen tank to achieve this.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Just listen to what I say and you will be fine."

It always amazes me how these instructors can take things so lightly. During a sky diving trip two years ago, the instructor finished a safety briefing in 30 seconds. So, with a sense of familiarity, I pressed on.

For those who don't know the difference between sky diving and paragliding, when you sky-dive, you jump off a plane, free fall and open a parachute to land. When you paraglide, you run off a cliff with the fabric wing sail open and then use steering lines to fly the paraglider far and high.

A professional paragliding pilot can fly for hours and hit dizzying heights. According to Milan, the Nepali national record is more than 7,000 meters above sea level and the pilot had to use an oxygen tank to achieve this.

With all my equipment finally on, I stepped out onto the far end of the runway, with Milan tugging at my back as he made a final check of the paraglider, which lay spread out across the slope.

Now it felt real.

"Run!" yelled Milan.