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The sky was  bit over cast when I started to walk  towards the airfield from my hotel.
It
was an old military  airbase since the American war in the 1960’s and
was made to an airport then again changed to a military air base (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nha_Trang_Air_Base )   

The hall was a hodge podge of   Americans, British, Thais, Japanese, Chinese,  Russians and of course the lone Filipino Me. All wanted to be part of the 1^st ever  civilian Sky Jump over Vietnam.

Hmmm now to think about if I get to jump  I would  be the 1^st Filipino Ever to sky dive in Vietnam.

From what I heard from the organizer it took them almost 2 years to get the
necessary permits for this event.

 

 So I was introduced to my tandem master who was Thai named  Khun Winnai ,who was a retired member of the Thai SAS. He stood about a half foot smaller then me but possessed
large stocky body capable of supporting us .He went thru the
procedures. I had to go thru from standing, walking the ramp, jumping
off, free fall, parachute controls and landing.

   

 

 

Our
ride that day was the Russian made MI-8 , which was made as military
transport helicopter. It would be bring the contingent of 22 people up
to 12,000 feet above sea level. It had a rear ramp in which we where
going to jump off from.

 

 

 

So they called us off and  then  we were formed into 3 sticks as we board the helicopter.

 

 

   

As the helicopter started its rotors I was filled with excitement .I expected fear to creep
on me but it was rather eerie as it was blanket of calm that  I felt at
that moment . It seemed so surreal here, I am taking off a military
airbase on a military helicopter strapped to an airborne ranger and
flanked by 2 US Navy officers. It felt like being right smack in the
middle of a war movie. I felt giddy being able to play solider. The
ride up to the drop height took about 15 mins.

Some of the divers took a nap.  I admired the view from the open helicopter ramp , watching the landscape become smaller. 

 

 

“3 Mins ……3 Mins” shouted the Jumpmaster I was stirred up from my stupor of watching the view.

 

 

 

 

“Up “my tandem master told me. I
stood up, The jumpers started to give high fives and good luck  signs
they all acknowledge me give me shakes of hands and thumbs up.

 

“Safety “ I then pulled on the straps then will hold me.

 

 

 

“Walk…….. Move Forward” I waddle forward  to the ramp still I felt no fear

 

 

 

I saw the other sky divers’ jump over the ramp , disappeared and plunged down towards Earth.

   

 

 

Then I was on the edge of the ramp

 

 

 

“Jump… Jump…. Jump “I assumed the position for the jump.

 

Then started my descent towards earth face forward with   a terminal velocity of 200 kph.

 

The freight train sound of the rushing air makes you realize the speed of your fall.

 

 

 

It
is  an experience I will try to describe but it  was simply something
unless you have experienced personally no amount of words can convey  .

   

 

 

There
was  no any sensation of falling. It seemed that I was not moving and
had this wall (which was the ground) accelerating towards me. A patch
of clouds suddenly blocked our drop. We punched thru it. I felt  draft
of cold air embraced me  as went thru it.

Wow I actually touched the clouds…

 

 

 

Time seemed to slow down Oh what a rush… every senses of my body was enjoy every moment of my ride.  As the landscape became larger.

 

 

Thump as the canopy opened and jerked us up… my straps strained as it held me in place and slowed our descent to a glide.

 

 

 

 

   

“Control
“once again my tandem ordered me. I gripped the controls of the
parachute he gave me orders of left or right as we corkscrew our way
towards the drop zone which was along the beach of Nha Trang. It looked like a small target but it was visible.

I appreciated the view from my vantage point. I could see the island
resort of VinPearl, the fishing boats which were dots that lined the
seas.

 

 

 

It was going to be a beach landing which explained why some of the sky divers were barefooted when we jumped.

 

 

   

”Control
back” which meant the finer aspect of landing was given back to my
tandem master. It had to done right or else we end up doing my next
favorite activity which was scuba diving if
landed on the open sea.

 

 

 

 

 

As the land loomed larger I saw a large crowd waiting for us to land.

 

 

 

No wonder he was Special Forces we landed softly about 5 feet away from the bull’s eye.

 

 

 

As we landed , being the only tandem jumper the crowd closed in on us.

As we walked to the secure zone where the skydivers went to repacked their chutes.

The loud chatters in Vietnamese  surrounded us , then out of the blue a woman’s voice in a n accented but understandable  English  said “ Hey where are you from ?” I turned around and smiled “I am from the

Philippines

‘They clapped and smiled back  ..

 

 

 

I
walked towards the bus which was going to bring back to the airbase I
smiled to myself wondering if this would mean a new beginning like it
was my 1st discovery scuba brought me to where I am.

 

 

 

I just said a prayer of thanks to God for allowing me to experience gift of life.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.