No - that is not me - it's just someone - I haver no idea who.
No I didn’t go parasailing. Have no real strong desire to. So you get to float around in a parachut whilst a motorboat drags you around. Probably charge an arm and a leg for the experience too. That is one of the popular things on the beach here in Langkawi. You might see two or three up at once and they go all day long, without a hitch. Well not this one time I was watching. I saw the guy lift off and then just kept walking along the beach. Suddenly I hear a Malaysian man on the beach blowing a whistle, and more than just once. I look up and see the parasailer and a plane and I am thinking that maybe he is blowing the whistle to let the boat driver know there is a plane nearby, but in all reality it was a fair distance away, so I didn’t believe that to be the case. But perhaps it was just to be safe.
Lush island around Langkawi. In the heat of the day it is hard to get a good picture oddly enough.
Then the whistle blower starts yelling and more guys join him, yelling. The parasailer is coming around to shore but he looks a little low. He also looks like he is doing something odd. I stop walking to watch. I even think about getting out my camera but decide that that would be wrong somehow. The parasailer keeps sweeping towards the shore but he is low and grabbing one side of the parachute. I watch in amazement, as does everyone else, as he sweeps low towards the buildings on the beach. It looks like he is just about to hit a house but actually just misses it. The guys are still yelling. The parasailer has both hands on one side pulling so that his body is on an angle and not facing straight. It looks like he will miss everything but just as he comes around the parachute catches the branches of a tree and loses its shape and the guy falls to the ground awkwardly and with a thud.
Whump - no he's not here but this is the kind of beach he fell down on.
Well everyone rushes towards him and I see him roll on his back with his legs up – I think – but soon I can’t see him for people. I think of going to see if I can help but there are enough people nosing in. Just when he fell, there was a white guy there with a camera filming the whole thing and telling everyone to stay away. I am assuming it was a friend. Anyway, I sat and watched for a bit and finally found out from someone that he had broken his leg. So there goes his holiday. I feel sort of sorry for the Malaysians as I am sure they told him how to operate his chute properly for landing but he got something wrong and knowing white people he’ll want to sue or something. Someone told me that when they whistle you are supposed to pull on the left of the chute to bring you around to the beach and then let go so there is a bit of a lift and then you fall fairly gently. Well he never let go. So there you go. Do your extreme sporty things when travelling if you dare and at your own risk, because you never know what can happen.
Lush, Local jungle islands off the south end of Langkawi.
Glad it was not you – off to Scotland tomorrow yeh!!!
Glad it was not me too but instead Malaysia and my digestive system are not getting along. The benefit is that I am losing weight without trying.