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]

And run I did: through the bushes and headlong toward the cliff.

"I'm going to fall," I thought to myself as I ran recklessly toward my potential demise.

Suddenly, I was lifted by a strong force. My legs were still swaying back and forth, but the ground, the bushes, and the cliff, were all out of reach.

Cool winds enveloped me, and I floated gently further and higher over Sarangkot peak.

With the paraglider above me, out of sight, it felt like I was suspended over Earth, wild and free.

The Himalaya Mountains lay hidden in thick cloud to the north. From time to time, I caught sight of snow-capped peaks poking out from beneath banks of fluffy clouds.

Up in the air, I shared thermals with vultures and dozens of other paragliders, their wings in all kinds of colors and patterns.

Beneath me, Phewa Lake glittered. Rice fields stretched for as far as the eye could see.

"So, this is what they mean by bird's eye view," I said to Milan. "Yeah, it's not bad, huh? Just relax."