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Again, we woke up early (6.30am) to get ready for our rearranged paragliding trip. However, they did not turn up again (until 9am however, so at least they came this time!). We took a jeep into the Sacred Valley with our paragliding instructor. It was so amazing to see the biggest of Peru´s mountains topped in snow with clouds coming over them. I only brought my disposable camera with me so I really hope the photos come out...
When we arrived at the launch site, there was a lot cloud in the valley so we would be delayed in paragliding. The instructor told us instead of waiting around one of his staff would take us to some sites in the Sacred Valley. So three of us (Kim, me and the film editor for Time Out magazine, London!) jumped in a little car and were promptly whisked off along extremely muddy and skiddy roads, nearly crashing into walls and flying off cliffs a few time, to Moray (an experimental agricultural site - as seen on TV!) It was worth a visit and it was quite an impressive structure.
After Moray we were on our way to some salt mines when our instructor radio-ed our driver to let us know that his other launch site was much clearer and that the winds were picking up so we backtracked upto the second site overlooking the Sacred Valley with the snow-topped hills in the distance.
Kim got chosen to go first and after a little preparation, she and her instructor promptly ran off the cliff! Unfortunately the winds had dropped quite a bit and the whole descent was only a matter of five minutes or so. So once Kim returned to the site about half an hour later, all three of us had to wait for the winds to pick up.
When it was finally my go to jump, I was so excited and not really nervous (surprisingly). 1...2...3... RUN! was all i heard and I ran as hard as could towards the edge of the cliff and felt the wind lift the chute up and we quickly ascended in the thermals shooting up the side of the cliff. It was an experience I´ll never forget. On our way down, we followed a Condor swirling its way up in the thermals. It truly was amazing and I´ll never forget it!
Our landing site was in a tiny community just in the valley. As soon as my instructor and I landed, loads of the local kids came running over to play and talk. It was amazing. I can´t believe how much I enjoyed doing the paragliding and I definitely want to go again.
That evening we ate in a little tavern overlooking Plaza de Armas called Norton Rats. It was really quite cheap and the start of our cutting-back on expenses! We´ve spent so much money already, it´s not funny! Ah well, c'est la vie! I´ll worry about that more when I get home!
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