A hearty bunch! The Bird Man Club of Gwangju

If you ever imagined paragliders were a tough crowd, this is the crew you would be thinking of! Some of them like An Byong Jan (second from the right) belong to the very first pilots in Korea promoting paragliding over here.
The site where this picture was taken is only a few kilometers away from Gwangju-city and the Museum. Its take-off is barely visible right above the heads in the little saddle, the landing zone would be behind the photographers back and the difference in height merely 80 m.

Paragliders in Gwangju

The ones familiar with my passion for paragliding were probably expecting this. I had refrained from taking equipment to Korea, but eventually I had to bump into some pilots sooner or later. Yes, I had seen wings on the riverbank of Gwangju, but did not approach them since it looked like a single pilot or student groundhandling his wing.
But now we are in the middle of winter vacation! Combined with the favorable weather conditions this lead me to meet three different groups of paragliders in just over 5 days - it seems I will get airborne over here after all, profiting from the incredible hospitality of Korean people!
Here are some further links if you are interested:
http://www.korea-para.co.kr
http://www.flykorea.co.kr

Viel Glück im Neuen Jahr!