Paragliders - Some Great Places To See Them

Paragliders - Some Great Places To See Them
by: Tim Parish

Paragliders are being flown in thousands of locations around the world. In fact if you are patient and know just where to go, chances are you could see one or two at a place near you. Are you a frequent traveller? Would you be interested in seeing some paragliding action in some spectacular surroundings? I'm about to highlight just a few exceptional places on this planet where there is a lot of paragliding activity from time to time. These locations are all very public too, so access is easy.

Since these places are very well-known in their respective parts of the world, no detailed 'who to contact and how to find it' information is provided here. The locals will soon point you in the right direction, if that's necessary.

You have probably guessed by now that this article is aimed at those who haven't thought about actually flying in a paraglider. However, most of the locations below do offer opportunities to get a ride in a tandem paraglider, if you so desire!

Torrey Pines, California, U.S.A.

Many members of the public roll up at Torrey Pines Gliderport in Southern California. Here, they can see paragliders and hang gliders launch from the cliffs into the Pacific Ocean breeze. Famous for many years for being a busy hang-gliding site, paragliders have become commonplace too in recent years. Plenty of space to park your car at the edge of the cliffs and watch the soaring action. Occasionally a pelican or 2 will sail past as well!

Interlaken, Switzerland

Paragliding goes back a long way in this region, almost back to the birth of the sport. So it's not surprising that paraglider-spotting is easy in this picturesque Swiss town. Oriented towards tourism, the town is located between lakes Thun and Brienz in the Bernese Oberland region. Being in the Alps, there are magnificent mountains nearby. Pilots launching from these mountains often use a landing area in Interlaken itself. Shoppers walking along the Bahnhofstrassein can watch the brightly colored paraglider canopies arriving and landing gracefully in the nearby park. A lot of paragliding takes place in other parts of the Swiss Alps too.

Oludeniz, Turkey

It's hard to beat this location for the sheer amount of paragliding activity in the one area. Most Americans haven't heard of this place, but it is a major paragliding destination for Europeans. As a watcher, there's no need to brave the somewhat exciting truck ride to the top of Mount Babadag, where the paragliders launch. Babadag is an imposing limestone mountain 2000 meters (6500 feet) high, overlooking the wide white sandy beaches of Oludeniz. With literally dozens of pilots flying on some days, some with passengers, there is ample opportunity to observe them landing on the beach back in Oludeniz. Many of these pilots make their living this way. The place to be is the Fly-Inn Cafe, a meeting point for people who are waiting to fly or who have just arrived back via the air. Upstairs is the slightly more up-market Ottomania Restaurant which has great views of the whole bay area.

Lima, Peru

The city of Lima in Peru, South America, extends right down to a series of coastal cliffs. It's commonplace for the general public to see paragliders quite close-up as they soar along the cliffs. The district of Minaflores in particular is a nice area for shopping and dining, in full view of the Pacific ocean and all the flying action. You can explore the Larcomar mall, perhaps relaxing in a restaurant such as the Mangos or the Vivaldino, with a window seat. Or, just take a stroll along the footpath (sidewalk) atop the cliffs. Either way, you are sure to see paragliders sooner or later, provided weather conditions are favorable. In blustery weather, the seagulls have the air to themselves!

Hartbeespoortdam, South Africa

This is actually the name of a dam, although the name also refers to the man-made lake which it creates. Some say the area looks a bit like Switzerland as a result! Not far away are the large cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg. To view paragliders, it's hard to beat a cable car trip on the Hartbeespoortdam Cableway, which is in fact the longest monocableway in Africa. From this moving vantage point, you can enjoy panoramic views of the dam and it's surroundings. Soaring birds such as the Black Eagle, Fish Eagle and White Backed Vulture are often joined by paraglider and hang-glider pilots.

Voss, Norway

Now to the winter paradise of Voss, in Norway. Situated between Norway´s most famous fjords, the awe-inspiring Hardanger and Sogn, this town is a hub for extreme sports of all kinds. There is a park where you can just relax and maybe spot a paraglider or two approaching from the nearby mountain, overflying a fjord on the way. If the weather co-operates! Voss can be reached by train from nearby Bergen, affording a very scenic trip beside the fjords.

Conclusion

During your travels, you might find yourself within an hour or three of one of these places. Never seen a paraglider, ever? Why not take the opportunity for a memorable experience seeing paragliders in flight! The longer the stay, the less chance of disappointment due to unsuitable weather of course. Alternatively, a phone call to one of the local paragliding organizations might help you time your visit.

About The Author
Tim Parish is a motorless flight enthusiast, the webmaster of Paragliding Tales and Reviews, a site which will introduce you to many aspects of paragliding, with a sprinkling of humor. Tim has had the pleasure of soaring in sailplanes, hang-gliders and paragliders in the past, both real and simulated. His enthusiasm for these activities is evident in his writing, which he hopes will inspire others.

Paragliding Tales and Reviews (close new window/tab to get back to this page).

How To Minimize Stress During World Travel and Tours

How To Minimize Stress During World Travel and Tours
by: Jon Arnold

With world travel the very first thing you can do to reduce your stress levels is to have a travel agent you can trust. This is because you have no idea of all the rules and regulations that are going to come up during your world tours. Having an agent that you trust is a great source of stress reduction. This is because you do not have to worry about all the little details and the infinite amount of paperwork and changes that come up. A good travel agent can advise of things like your passports, visas, shots and immunizations, as well as providing tips on local customs and culture so that you can fit in more easily when you arrive.

There are a number of travel sites out there and the most popular ones deal with getting you the cheapest flights and hotels. This is great and wonderful for what they do and they are good at it. They however will not make sure that all the little details are taken care of or provide the personal touch that other sites and agencies can. I have found that world-travel-tour.com is one of those sites that does a good job of keeping their eye on all the small details.

World travel these days can be a very scary thing filled with all kinds of stress because of the events in the news. A good agent is aware of all those things and will do everything to make sure that you are safe. Your world tour will be enjoyable and relaxing when you have the assistance of a knowledgeable agent. Here are some other things to consider while on your world tour.

Make sure you have your schedule set and that you did allow yourself some "me time" in all the hustle and bustle of the trip that is something that can be easily forgotten. Keep your schedule realistic, these tour spots have been there for thousands of years and they will be there when you get to come back. Make sure you have a list of your medications and doctors so that if something should happen you can get proper treatment.

Bring a good book to read since the flights are long and you will have plenty of time to read and sleep. Make sure you get a good night's sleep before you head out on your flight. Even if your world travel is for business, schedule yourself some time for yourself to enjoy the new location you are in, instead of just trying to cram in back to back meetings and appointments. You will be able to enjoy being in the place you're at for the meeting and be well rested and be able to work better in the end.

Relax and enjoy your world tour and find all the secrets the world has to offer. If you go to world-travel-tour.com it will be a good start to finding what the secrets are. The secret after all is that this world travel stuff really does not have to be filled with stress and doubt. If you want that, then go to work, world travel is about stress free time for you.

About The Author
Jon Arnold is a computer engineer who maintains many websites to pass along his knowledge and findings. You can read more about the stress of world travel and tours at his web site at World Travel Tour

Kill Two Birds With One Stone - Medical Tourism

Kill Two Birds With One Stone - Medical Tourism
by: Lawrence Westfall

Medical tourism is a fairly new term used to describe an amazing amount of people globally that travel world-wide for health care. Why these people travel and for what differs, but basically there are two types of medical tourists – the regular tourist that adds a visit to the doctor for some minor treatment, as part of his or her holiday, and the tourist travelling primarily for medical treatment.

Before there even was a term 'medical tourism', it was common practice among the well-to-do in third-world countries to travel to the USA, Switzerland and Germany for medical care. However, since the year 2000, this trend has been reversed and now countries such as Thailand, are attracting patients from the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom.

This new market has grown as modern health care systems all over the world are struggling to meet the medical needs of their own populations. In the United States, the price of health care is beyond the means of most and there are an estimated 40 million people without health insurance. While in Britain, Canada and Holland, socialised health care ensures affordability, demand for medical services far outstrips supply and waiting lists for surgical procedures or specialty medicine can be as long as two-to-three years.

Today, governments, insurers and employers are carefully looking at outsourcing medical treatments as a way to improve access and lower health care costs for their citizens, policy-holders and employees.

Thailand's health care services are about one-half the cost of similar services in Singapore, one-third the cost of Hong Kong and one-tenth the cost in the United States.

Who are the medical tourists and what are they coming for?

By and large, medical tourists are travelling for specialty surgical and medical services. The recent upsurge in the popularity of plastic surgery, however, has led to a new wave of medical tourists and headlines like "Sun, sea and surgery" or "Scalpel tourism" have helped create the buzz for this growing phenomenon. Medical tourism destinations, such as Thailand, promote the benefit of high-quality medical care as just one more reason to visit the kingdom.

Elective out-patient procedures like check-ups, dental care, and LASIK eye surgery are becoming increasingly popular and there is a growing interest on the part of the tourism industry to include these services as part of their travel packages. Higher intensity medical services, like spinal and cardiac surgery, pose a greater challenge because these medical services are not as easily packaged and require significantly more knowledge about medicine.

Bumrungrad Hospital, located in central Bangkok, is a major player in the medical tourism field in Thailand, attracting over 360,000 international patients every year from over 150 countries worldwide. But Bumrungrad is not alone. There are quite a few other hospitals in Thailand and also in out-lying regions that are aggressively marketing their hospitals to capture a slice of this fast growing market. Both Bumrungrad Hospital and the India-based Apollo Hospital were recently featured on the CBS award winning news program "60 Minutes" as medical tourism destinations for a growing number of Americans.

Reliable figures on the size and growth of medical tourism are hard to come by, as government and immigration statistics do not yet categorize inbound travellers coming for medical care. That said, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is actively promoting medical tourism as medical tourists on average spend more and stay longer than leisure travellers.

So, whether you are the casual visitor that will take advantage of some minor medical work while in Thailand, or you are planning your vacation around your surgery, Thailand is the place to go and get it done professionally and at an extremely good price.

About The Author
Larry Westfall is the owner of Pattaya Crazy.

Where To Find Weather Information For Malaga And The Costa Del Sol

Where To Find Weather Information For Malaga And The Costa Del Sol
by: Jack Blacksmith

An accurate Malaga weather forecast is important when planning a vacation. Luckily, Malaga has some of the best weather in the country. This area gets very little rain, and virtually none in the summer. There are approximately 300 sunny days in the year in this city.

In general, the climate in the area can be described as a typical Mediterranean climate. Malaga is one of the hottest areas on the Costa del Sol. The mountain keeps the winds away in the summer and winter. The area has a mild climate with little rainfall. For this reason, the area is a popular vacation destination in all seasons.

The favourable weather in Malaga makes it a perfect destination to enjoy the outdoors all year. There are many outdoor activities available year round in this area. Fishing, golf, hiking, boating, water skiing and horseback riding are some of the popular outdoor activities enjoyed by tourists.

Golf enthusiasts like to travel to this area. Golf holidays are popular year round in Malaga. There are fine hotels and golf resorts located in this area. Fall and winter golf vacations are a good choice for off season travel. The weather is warm and dry enough to get plenty of time on the course.

The weather in this region is favourable for the growth of semi tropical vegetation. The local flora and fauna includes palm trees, cypress and hibiscus.

Malaga Weather Forecast for Spring and Summer

The average temperatures in Spring range from a high of 18-22 degrees Celsius. The low temperatures, usually at night, are between 11 and 15 degrees Celsius. The average rainfall for the Costa del Sol is between 20 and 30 mm in the month of may, 40 mm in April. This can vary from year to year, with 10 mm in one year and 40 the next.

Summer is the most popular tourist travel season on the Costa del Sol. The temperatures in the summer range from a high of 29 to a low of 18 degrees Celsius. There is little rainfall in the summer time. The average rainfall is between 0 and 4 mm per month. The majority of the days are warm and sunny.

Malaga Weather Forecast for Autumn and Winter

The weather in the Fall is nearly as warm as the summer. This is a good time to travel if you want to avoid the crowds, but still enjoy the warmer temperatures. The average temperature in the fall is between 19 and 27 degrees Celsius for the high. The low temperature is between 12 and 20 degrees Celsius. Average rainfall for the autumn months is between 20 and 30 mm.

Temperatures drop in the winter, but the weather is still relatively mild. The average temperature in winter is a low of 8 and a high of 17 degrees Celsius. The Malaga area is protected from the colder Northern winds by the mountain chain. This helps to keep the weather warm in the winter.

Getting the Malaga Weather Forecast

You can get the local forecast for this area on television, in local newspapers or on the internet. If travelling from a distance, you may want to keep track of the weather patterns on the internet in the weeks leading up to your trip.

A good weather forecast can help you plan your vacation days. You can get a seven or ten day forecast on the internet. Check the forecast in the days leading up to your vacation. This will help you plan your activities. Save the best days for outdoor activities and any rainy days can be spent visiting indoor tourist attractions.

About The Author
Concentrating on latest developments in Spain, Jack Blacksmith publishes primarily for Alicante Spain (close new window to get back to this page). Writing for detailed publications like Costa del Sol (close new window to get back to this page) ,the author proofed his know-how on news relating to Malaga Weather.

Istanbul’s Pera and Taksim Area and the Significance of its Hotels for the City

Istanbul’s Pera and Taksim Area and the Significance of its Hotels for the City
by: Hakan Silistre

Istanbul’s modern city center, Taksim has gained its reputation of being the heart of the living city not only because of its convenient location but also because of many different cultural, historic and artistic attractions that it offers to the travelers. The hotels located in this part of the city is significant to the development that the city has witnessed in the last 4 decades.

Taksim Square derives its name from the 1733 water distribution building built there, in which water distribution for different districts of Istanbul used to be administered. The word “Taksim” in Turkish means “distribution” as it relates to where the water would be distributed from at the time. At the center of Taksim Square is the 12 meters high Republic Monument which was designed by the Italian architect Pietro Canonica and it symbolizes the foundation of the republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

The historic Pera, where is now officially called “Beyoglu” is a long pedestrian-only district that starts at the Taksim Square and swings through to Galata Tower for almost one and a half miles. More than 55 private or state-owned Art Galleries and over 30 foreign Consulates can be found in Beyoglu.

Beyoglu houses many movie theaters such as Emek, Fitas or the Alkazar. Most of the foreign movies are presented in their original language with subtitles in Turkish.

Hotels located in the same area as Lamartine include Hyatt Regency, Ritz, InterContinental, Hilton and many other smaller sized hotels.

Istanbul Hilton is especially an important hotel of the area since it was the first of its kind in Istanbul. It used to be one of Conrad Hilton’s favorite hotels in the world as he described in his 1957 book “Be My Guest.” He does not forget to mention the Istanbul hotel right at the beginning of his book, where he presented his acknowledgments. He mentions that “his greatest debt is to each individual who has ever been his guest in any hotel – whether in Cisco, Texas, New York or Istanbul.” He was so proud of having his franchise in Istanbul because he thought this was a place where the West connected with the East. Throughout the book, he also mentions about a report he had about the Istanbul Hotel on his desk that stated people from 38 different nationalities stayed at the hotel during April of 1957. He describes in detail the time period he opened Hilton Istanbul in one of the last chapters of his book that he named “Horizons Unlimited.” Conrad Hilton notes that “the moment he reached Istanbul, he felt the antiquity, romance and mystery of this ancient city”. He thought this was a “tremendous place to plant a little bit of America by building a hotel here that would be a friendly center where men of many nations and of good will may speak the language of peace.”

Nearby tourist attractions include Flower Courtyard, Military Museum, Dolmabahce Palace, AKM Cultural Center, Galata Tower and Lutfi Kirdar Exhibition and Convention Center. Cicek pasaji is an “L” shaped historic passage where many small taverns and seafood restaurants are located side by side. It is one of the first places of choice in the city for locals to take their foreign guests for dinner during which they can see a unique environment which presents what dinners at Pera used to be like for many centuries. You can expect to see musicians stop by at each table to play a song of choice of the table and expect to be tipped for their services. They do not necessarily work for the restaurant but go through them one by one.

Taksim is an ideal location for both leisure and business travelers since they can reach many attractions in a few minutes. The hotels of this area blending history and culture with comfort and luxury make the area an excellent choice for prospective travelers.

About The Author
Hakan Silistre - is the author for Hotel Lamartine's travel tips section. Please visit Lamartine Hotel (close new window to get back to this page) for more travel tips and city specific information written solely for prospective travelers headed towards Istanbul.

Retire Overseas: The Best Places To Retire In Asia

Retire Overseas: The Best Places To Retire In Asia
by: Alex R Valdivia

Choosing a place to serve as a retirement home is always a major decision for anyone. The right decision can lead to years of contentment, and a wrong one can be costly. In order to make the right decision, one needs to gather information about the various options before settling on one.

Here are some of the criteria you should consider when considering a retirement location:

Job Outlook - Since many people work at least part time after retirement, availability of jobs is required in the desired place.

Recreation - Shopping and sport events, access to outdoor recreation, from skiing and biking to walking and hiking.

Cost Of Living - It should be affordable; preferably less than the cost of living in the U.S.

Education - Good public education should be available since many will want to take advantage of continuing education. A scope of higher education should be available for the retiree in order to pursue a new career.

Travel - It should be well connected to the other cities and towns and be easily accessible.

Public Transportation - Transportation such as buses, taxis, trains and planes should be easily available, comfortable and low in cost.

Climate And Weather - this is a major factor that needs to be borne in mind while selecting a place for retirement.

Medical Care - Proximity to comprehensive, well-recognized health care facilities is a major factor to be considered when choosing a place to retire.

Food - A variety of food of all regions should be easily available at a reasonable cost.

If your budget and schedule permits, you should try living in the place of your choice before actually investing in any property. Local community rules should also be read carefully and understood before investing in any property in a foreign country.

Consider Asia in your Retirement Location Choices

Asia is a great retirement option for those seeking affordable yet comfortable living, without compromising on natural beauty, entertainment and great food. The largest of the seven continents, Asia is home to numerous countries, which vary in geographical form, from islands and peninsulas to plateaus and mountains. To top it all off, the continent is home to some of the world's most hospitable people, making it a perfect place to retire.

Below are some of the best places to retire in Asia:

Malaysia

Malaysia is blessed with a pleasant, warm climate, inviting shorelines of white sands skirted by crystal clear waters. Lots of public and private hospitals, recreational/entertainment facilities and developed and quality education system are also available.

Thailand

Thailand’s reputation as a holiday paradise and an exotic, colorful and easygoing country is well deserved. To add to this, Thailand has a sophisticated and modern culture, fantastic sceneries, cheap shopping options, wonderful food and great nightlife.

The Philippines

The Philippines are comprised of over 7,000 islands, with clear blue waters, white sand beaches and coconut palm trees. The climate is moderately warm all year. Day to day expenses are low, living is easy and the people are warm, friendly and helpful.

Laos

Located in Southeast Asia, the tiny country of Laos is also a great retirement option for those looking for something different. The culture, lifestyle and mannerism of the people of Laos is greatly influenced by the Buddhist religion.

India

India The country is rich in culture and traditions, the effect of which is clearly visible on its people who have distinctive manners, habits, and cuisine, relative to their specific geographical location.

These places offer just a minor glimpse into what Asia really has to offer. Varied landscapes, lifestyles, cultures and cuisines are just a few of the attractions that the continent boasts of. From a retiree's point of view, the significantly lower cost of living leads to a relaxed and tension-free life.

Copyright by Best Places to Retire and Alex R Valdivia

This article may be used freely in ezines, newsletters, websites, to offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, active links and this resource box is included.

About The Author
Alex R Valdivia offers detailed reviews on some of the best places to retire in Asia where you can live comfortably even on a small pension or retirement savings. Go to http://www.bestplacesretire.com and find your ideal retirement location.

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