On our second day in Mendoza, Carly, Lia, Angela and I went paragliding. After a twenty minute drive, we arrived at the "base camp", where Angela and I changed to another 4x4 to take us uphill. At the summit, we had a brief wait until the wind was right, before we were told to run and not stop until the pilot tells us! I expected a massive adrenaline rush as I ran off the edge of a cliff, but I was concentrating so hard on not doing anything wrong that I hardly noticed it until I couldn't touch the ground. (The pilot told me I was at the upper weight limit and had to run as fast as possible and not stop, just to make sure! He also asked me if it was my first time, then said it was his first time paragliding too.) Angela had taken off moments before me, and seemed to be gliding away effortlessly; as I ran off the edge of the hill the ground gradually disappeared from beneath my feet - I was still trying to run well after I couldn't touch the ground.
The flight was excellent, but it was much less adrenline-filled than I had expected; it was relatively slow and calm. Nevertheless, it was a great experience but I doubt I'd do it again without a specific view - we were gliding over mountains and fields with little to see.
That evening, we met with Vikki, Julia and their friends, heading to the Irish pub for several hours just chatting and catching up, before going round the corner to a recommended nightclub, Gutierrez, but (gladly) it was closed and I got to bed by about 3am.
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