Paragliding in Luzern, Switzerland

I went paragliding in Luzene in March. As it was my first time paragliding, I opted for the basic tandem flight with a flight time of 10-15 min. The instructor picked my friend and I up at Luzern Hbf and drove us (together with another couple) to valley of Engelberg for paragliding. The actual site of paragliding can only be decided on the actual day as it depends on the weather condition and wind direction. As there were two instructors, my friend and I took the gondola lift up the valley together with the instructors while the couple waited at the valley for their turn.

Prior of paragliding, I watched a video from Paragliding Luzern webpage on how to take off. Basically, you run down a slope and get lifted up in the air. Sounds easy? That was what I thought and I was so wrong! There I was standing at the peak of the cliff, looking down and could not see the end of the valley! The instructor stood behind me and instructed me to run and take off. However, my legs were shaking and all I could do was to take a few baby steps. Before I knew it, I was dragged along and up in the air! Thankfully, the runway was short and we were gliding in the air within seconds!

The scenery was simply breathtaking! I immediately cast my fear aside and enjoyed the nature presented before me. It was so calm, so calm ..... until the instructor pulled the handles started to do a roller coaster in the air. Depending on whether you like roller coaster, the duration of peaceful vs exhilarating flight can be customized accordingly.

Photos and video was recorded and you could purchase this after paragliding.

Even though paragliding in Switzerland is expensive, I would still go for it. It is once in a lifetime experience and the view is simply amazing!

If you are keen to do paragliding in Luzern, here is the contact:

Paragliding Luzern GmbH in Kriens

basic flight: 150 CHF + 34 CHF for photo and video

http://www.paragliding-luzern.ch/e_flights.html

Tel: +41 78 760 63 60

pick up and drop off at Luzern Hbf can be arranged

Boots, helmet and jacket are provided

Bobby compact backpack

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored review.

Last year, I placed an order for Bobby compact backpack, an anti-theft bag by XD Design on a kickstarter website and it arrived just in time for my Europe trip.

What drove me to purchase the Bobby compact backpack was that I became a bit paranoid after reading and watching videos of pickpocketing in Italy.

Here is my review.

Pros:

+ Bag is padded, making it suitable for carrying laptop and fragile items such as bottles of wine.

+ Weight distribution is good. Does not strain back when carried.

+ Water resistant with bag cover to make it waterproof.

+ Can be strapped onto luggage handle.

+ Hidden compartments which are not accessible to others.

Cons:

- Bag has a definite volume and is rather bulky; it cannot be compressed and stored in the luggage when not in use.

- Mass of empty bag is around 800 g which is rather heavy.

- No external pocket for storing water bottle.

- Difficult to access side pockets 

An anti-theft bag makes it more difficult for pickpockets to steal things from your bag but it does not prevent your entire bag from being stolen. So, one still has to be vigilant and watch own belongings. 

Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre, literally translates to 5 lands, is a UNESCO world heritage.

What drew me to Cinque Terre was this breathtaking photo of Manarola. Colourful houses at a cliff by the sea. How beautiful is that!

Cinque Terre consists of 5 towns. I visited all 5 towns with the Cinque Terre card. In Mar 2017, the 2 day Cinque Terre card cost 23 Eur and allowed unlimited travel on trains and buses, Wifi access, use of public toilets, hiking on path 2 in Cinque Terre for 2 days. Without the card, each train ride between the towns in Cinque Terre cost 4 Eur. The frequency of the train ride is approximately once every hour. The train schedule is available online, however, there is a variation of ~10min of the actual timing from the online schedule.

Is the Cinque Terre card worth the money?

Yes, if you intend to visit all 5 towns. Otherwise, you could get the individual train tickets. Wifi access provided by the Cinque Terre card was limited, public toilets were closed and some of the trails on path 2 were closed.

Here is my take on the 5 towns.

Riomaggiore

Houses are pretty run down from the outside.

Corniglia

Most physically challenging and inaccessible due to the climb up to the town center. To reach the town center from the train station, it is recommended to take the Cinque Terre bus.

Vernazza

Most elderly friendly. Mostly flat ground and town center can be easily reached from the train station.

Monterosso

Largest and most children friendly. Have a beach and playground.

Manarola

Most scenic.

I stay at B&B Baranin at Manarola for 2 nights. It is located on a cliff. I remembered panting while rolling my luggage up the slope and carrying them up the stairs. In retrospect, perhaps, I would stay in the town center of Manarola, instead of up on a cliff. Breakfast offered by B&B Baranin was good though; the freshly-made croissants made my day.

I hiked around Manarola but not from one town to the next. Good walking shoes are strongly recommended.

I had dinner at Trattoria Dal Billy, which was a short walk away from B&B Baranin. Food was yummy and reasonable priced. In fact, it was so good that I had dinner there for 2 consecutive days! You should also try Sciacchetra, a sweet dessert wine which will be served after meal. 

Lobster pasta at Billy

Sciacchetra at Billy

Now, you must be thinking, if one has the time to visit only one town in Cinque Terre, what would it be?

If you have no problems climbing stairs and slopes, I would strongly recommend Manarola. I would recommend staying there for at least 1 one day, to catch the day and the sunset view and have dinner at Billy.

If you have difficulty with stairs and slopes, I would suggest Vernazza as the terrain is the most gentle. It is also beautiful.

Chianti wine tour, Italy

I have previously blogged about the great experience which I had during the Hunter Valley wine tour in Australia in 2015. Subsequently, I went for a wine tour in Khao Yai and more recently, Chianti wine tour in Italy.

As I had great experience with the Hunter Valley wine tour, I must say I have certain expectations of the wine tour and am rather disappointed.

I would do a comparison between the Hunter Valley wine tour and the Chianti wine tour.

The Hunter Valley wine tour costed AUD 100 (lunch excluded) while the Chianti wine tour costed 150 Eur (lunch included). Both were daytrips. For Hunter Valley wine tour, the pickup point was at my hostel whereas for the Chianti wine tour, the pickup point was at the travel agency's office.

The roads to the vineyards in Chianti were winding and uneven (worse than the roads to Genting Highlands!). A bumpy ride after winetasting generally made people feel uncomfortable. My friend felt nausea. Luckily, nobody suffered from motion sickness or vomited during the trip. In comparison, the journey to Hunter Valley in Australia was very smooth.

Chianti is famous for red wines and 80% of the wines we tasted at the 2 vineyards were red wines. It lacked variety. In Hunter Valley, we got to taste white wines, red wines and dessert wines and everyone managed to find something they like. In the first vineyard we visited in Chianti, there was a particular red wine which we tasted and I liked. Unfortunately, the bottle which we tasted was the 2009 bottle and it was not for sale, which made me wonder what is the point of letting us taste the wine if we couldn't buy it. We could buy the 2014 bottle but that was not offered to us for tasting and hence, nobody bought that. Seriously, they need to reflect on their marketing strategy.

Because of the long, winding and bumpy rides, we could only visit 2 vineyards during the Chianti tour. In comparison, I visited 4 wineries during the Hunter Valley tour.

My personal opinion is that the Chianti wine tour pales in comparison to the Hunter Valley wine tour and it was not as fruitful or enjoyable.    

Khao Yai, Thailand

I would like to share with you on my recent trip to Khao Yai. Khao Yai is known for its national park which is a UNESCO world heritage. However, I didn't visit the national park but other places in Khao Yai instead.

I did a one day trip from Bangkok to Khao Yai in January. Khao Yai is northeast from Bangkok and is approximately 2.5h drive from Bangkok. Temperature was lower in Khao Yai than Bangkok, about 20+ deg C in the day. I booked a full day taxi service from Taxi Bangkok on Facebook and paid 3800 Baht for the day. If you are keen, you can send them your itinerary and get a quotation. Alternatively, if you drive, you can do a road trip which would be a cheaper option. 

Our taxi driver picked us up at our hotel at Bangkok punctually at 7.30am and we began our journey to our first top, GranMonte Vineyard. At about 10am, we reached GranMonte Vineyard and began the tour. There are a few vineyards in Khao Yai and the popular ones are GranMonte and PB Valley. The tour took about 1h and cost 300 Baht and included wine tasting.

Personally, I feel that the wines at GranMonte are not as rich, sweet and favourful as the European or Australian Wines, which could be attributed to the weather at Khao Yai. As the weather in Khao Yai is warmer and not as suitable for grapes cultivation, the grape plants cannot survive as many years as those in Europe or Australia, leading to more expensive wine in GranMonte. 

We had lunch at GranMonte and after that we went to Primo Piazza. Primo Piazza is modelled after Tuscany in Italy and the highlight of the visit was feeding of Alpacas and Merino sheep. Entrance fee was 100 Baht. 

Next, we went to a sunflower field. Entrance fee was 30 Baht and the entire field was field with sunflowers!

My last stop was The Chocolate Factory, a popular cafe that sells not only chocolates but also other snacks as well. I love the ice chocolate drink there.

We left Khao Yai at 3+pm and reached our hotel in Bangkok at around 6pm. Typically, the full day taxi service will end at around 6pm at Khao Yai, after which you would be taken back to Bangkok. 

If you are looking for more than shopping and eating in Bangkok, I would recommend a trip to Khao Yai.