Paragliding Over the Desert in Oman

“Over the sea, I was told to lean hard right, which sent us into a thrilling spin, with so much g force I could hardly breathe! Out of the spin, we gently floated to ground level, with a couple of gentle steps forward we were down, and it was all over far too soon.

Written by Emily Bittan

The 4×4 picked us up from our hotel and we drove up the steep, winding, mountain road to the paragliding platform. I was starting to get a little nervous, but was soon put at ease by my instructor who was busy strapping me into a harness and telling me that all I had to remember was to run, when he told me to…which did not feel like the most natural thing to do off the edge of a platform, with a 300 metre drop.

Before I knew it, the canopy was being flapped to catch the wind and I heard my signal of “RUN”.  It was more of a leisurely jog, the few steps over the edge of the platform were over before any butterflies had the chance to flutter, and then we were floating, gently towards the bay.  We steered towards the mountain in order to find the best thermals.  As soon as we caught a thermal I could feel us lifting up and up.  We were circling above the mountain, so high you could see across the valley to the bays and mountains beyond.  I had a brief high-altitude history lesson about the ancient villages you could still see traces of, and how people had built them and lived so high up in the mountains.

All too soon, we were floating towards the beach and preparing for our landing. Over the sea, I was told to lean hard right, which sent us into a thrilling spin, with so much g force I could hardly breathe! Out of the spin, we gently floated to ground level, with a couple of gentle steps forward we were down, and it was all over far too soon.