Sunday, March 31, 2013

Para Sailing Experience and Langkawi - CableCar/Sky Bridge

When I visited Penang way back in 2007 my three month old pregnancy accompanied me. Para sailing was totally out of question. During our Langkawi trip, when I came across the same in Pantai Cenang beach it was kind of irresistible. There are things in life which you should try whenever an opportunity presents itself. After all , no clock - historical, biological or plainly logical is going backwards right?

Para Sailing

It costed us RM100 per person. There were more expensive options in other parts of Langkawi(nearly 50 to 100 RM more). I guess the slight difference lies in the amount of professionalism but we decided to opt for the cheaper one.

My husband and I decided to go together. They strapped a parachute to our shoulders and this in turn was connected by a rope to a boat in the sea.

The man instructed my husband "When its about to end, I will blow the whistle. Then you tug at this rope with both your hands and pull it towards your chest. Remember both hands!" Almost simultaneously he started yelling "Run, Run!" The boat was speeding away dragging us and we ran with as less clumsiness as we could muster. Our feet just touched the water when we felt ourselves being lifted and then we were in the sky clinging on to the parachute. It was amazing! There was a nice breeze, it was quite calm and we seemed to be gently floating. Oh Yeah! The view was breathtaking but we had decided to risk only our lives and not our material possessions on earth like iPhone, iPad or the digital camera. Hence no pictures, just lovely memories of that view.

After around seven to eight minutes , the boat completed a huge circle and started approaching the place on the beach where we had started.

By now, my husband and I were deeply engrossed in some conversation, I cant really recollect the subject now. A whistle distracted me and I slowly asked 'Are they whistling at us?'

The men on the shore were maddeningly waving their hands and whistling at us - Basically signalling us to pull the rope as instructed.

Now we forgot the 'Both hands' part and my husband proceeded to pull it with one hand. There was no noticeable difference in our stand! Then I remembered 'Hey both hands'.

This whole act is to maneuver the parachute to move it towards the land so that when we descend we would end up on the shore and not in the water. On using both hands we moved towards the shore and by now we were only around 10 to 15 feet above the ground. A man was seated at the beach and thanks to his stars that carefully guarded him my feet just managed to avoid giving him a solid kick on the chin.

When we reached the ground it was one of the best sights of the day for those at the beach. I toppled and fell, my husband toppled and fell over me and the parachute fell on us. Almost immediately the men came and helped us out of the tangle!

It totally lasted only around ten to fifteen minutes, but was an experience that I would cherish for life! As I said, don't have any images, just one of the beach.

Langkawi Cable Car & Skybridge

One of the major attractions of Langkawi is the cable car ride , a very steep one that takes visitors to a Sky Bridge atop the Mount Matchinang.

When we went the sky bridge was closed for renovation but we did go up the viewing decks. Beautiful views from there and a bad choice for people scared of heights.




Dataran Lang (Eagle Square)

The Eagle Square is a landmark in Langkawi in the city area next to the ferry terminal. A huge statue of an eagle stands overlooking the ocean. Nice place to take some lovely photos and a good view in front.

We went when it was very hot just before taking the ferry to Penang and hence did not linger too long but it one goes in the evening or so , it would be pleasant and more enjoyable.




39 comments:

  1. You sure had a great adventure trip! Para sailing... I am looking forward to experience it some time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I went parasailing in Mauritius - twice. The first time I went alone and the second time, I went with my cousin. My brother had gone parasailing with my uncle on that second occasion - they both got confused about how to pull the rope - as a result, they landed in the water and we were on this moat with the parachute covering us :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Parasailing and Dataran Lang! What a lovely combo.... hope you have many more thrilling moments, Jaishree:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely pictures and a great post! Thank you Jaish!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice. I wanted to do para sailing thingy. But my luck - when I was kid parents did not allow me to do anything. Now wife took on the role and said she is scared for me etc etc and put all kinds of senti and prevented me from trying it out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi hi,happens TF . In my case I can put myself wholeheartedly into situations like this and so my husband needs to be scared for me :)

      Delete
  6. Wow! Parasailing, huh! Now that I envy :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This sure is a exciting trip.

    ReplyDelete
  8. doubles up the trip treat

    ReplyDelete
  9. Were you not scared Jaish !! Wow you really had a great trip...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow. I almost envied you

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gutsy girl!!!!!!!
    Well,you enjoyed the adventure & i enjoyed your account.

    ReplyDelete
  12. i was there a few months ago too.. it was absolutely beautiful!! :)

    glad to somehow share this experience with u :)

    http://taintedfingers.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  13. this is lovely. I have been to Langkawi but didnt take the cable car.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cable cars are such fun...good narration, I enjoyed reading the post. Thank god you did not kicked the poor guy in face :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nor the hot dog or something that he was munching ha ha imagine getting ones food thrown by the kick of a woman on a parachute ha ha

      Delete
  15. Hey this is something I have yet to do. May be the next time we are on the beach :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Para sailing is a lifetime experience. The bird's view of sea and shores are really different and beautiful na. The cable car looks gorgeous. I've seen that Eagle in many of my friend's FB pictures. For sometime, I thought Langkawi is the name of that bird ;(

    ReplyDelete
  17. @Uma thanks for the comment . While doing the moderation i pressed Delete by mistake ( did it on my phone, blame it on technology) :(

    Uma's comment : lol @ your description of the para-sailing experience..:-)
    loving your travelogue

    Thanks a ton :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great post Lovely photographs.Breath taking .I am terribly scared.My son and d-in-law went in a cable car. I was nervous all the time. While reading about your adventure my pulse rate shot up.

    ReplyDelete
  19. We too had these awesome experience at Langkawi,

    http://30andon.blogspot.com/2015/05/para-sailing-at-langkawi.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great pictures, you must have a nice view from such height. Parasailing tours can also be done on Cancún, one of the most wonderful locations on Earth.

    ReplyDelete