Paragliding in Oludinez, Turkey

Confession: I planned all of my travels throughout Turkey on the fly.

I booked hostels one night in advance. At any given time I only knew where I’d be about 2-3 days ahead of schedule. This wouldn’t have been possible during high season, but I’m here in December and everything is quiet. The flexibility is glorious!

I originally planned to stop in Fethiye, but after talking to my world-traveling friend Phil, he recommended Oludinez instead. Sure enough, that’s the most beautiful spot along this stretch of Turkish coast. But I had trouble finding accommodation in Oludinez and it’s only a short (and cheap) bus ride away from Fethiye — so I stayed in Fethiye after all, scoring a great price at the Pinara Pension.

I find two restaurants that I really like — the first is this place below with the awning. Unfortunately I can’t recall the name, but it’s within a 5 minute walk towards town from Pinara Pension.

I go here both nights and order the same thing: an eggplant dish for an appetizer, and a healthy chicken salad entree. Of course that giant bread (the inside is totally hollow) with herbed butter cancel out the salad, but I have no regrets.

The other place I enjoy is Ozsut Firin (no idea what that translates to) which has a great latte menu with fun flavors like mint mocha and gingerbread. And that’s really all I need to survive in this world.

I spend one whole day in Oludinez. It takes about 25 minutes on the mini-bus to get here from Fethiye (it’s a lot faster if you have a rental car, as the mini-bus stops frequently) and only costs a few bucks.

When I get off the mini bus, a man from a paragliding company greets me. “Do you want to fly today? It’s very cheap!”

Hmmm… I’ve never gone paragliding before. Is this something I should consider taking advantage of? But I’ve already planned a relaxing day at nearby Blue Lagoon, and paragliding will cost about $75 USD. So I stick to my original plans.

I walk towards the Blue Lagoon and pay a nominal entrance fee. The water is rather cold for swimming but the sun beats down brightly and the views are stunning.

Point of interest: the Lycian Way is a popular hiking trail that begins in this area and goes on for over 300 miles along the Aegean coast. Fellow travel blogger Sherry Ott chronicled her journey on the Lycian Way earlier this year; it’s an interesting read. I’d love to come back someday and try it.

But back to Oludinez — check out the color of that water.

It’s a perfect place to relax. And there’s almost no other tourists in sight. I’ve read this area is constantly crowded in the summer.

I round the lagoon towards the inland side.

And then I head back to the main beach. It’s only lunchtime… hmmm… looks like I do have time for paragliding after all. It’s either that or sit in a lounge chair with a book — a tempting idea — but I’m more curious what the Blue Lagoon looks like from above.

So I seek out the paragliding dude I met earlier. There are a number of companies offering this activity; he works for Pegas.

I bite the bullet and sign up for an afternoon paragliding trip. As soon as I make the decision, I feel exhilarated! When I woke up this morning I had no idea such an adventure awaited me in Oludinez. Spontaneity is one of my favorite parts of travel.

I dine at a nearby restaurant while waiting for my guide. This is a mushroom dish and it’s delicious.

My guide arrives and we’re driven WAY up to the top of a cliff overlooking the coast.

Prepping our gear…

So it turns out that in paragliding, once you’re properly geared up, you basically just walk off a cliff… and trust that the wind will pick you up.

Ready, set, GO!

We stand up and walk forward… seconds later we’re soaring over the area.

My guide has a GoPro to capture our flight.

Did you notice that I’m holding my DSLR? The man who sold me the flight assures me that it’s totally fine to bring my nice camera. As you might imagine, it makes me incredibly nervous to have it up in the air, but I’m too tempted by the photo possibilities to leave it behind. I’m happy to report it survived unscathed!

The camera stays strapped around my neck the whole time. I pick the fish-eye lens to shoot wide shots of the area, plus it’s great for selfies… to get the shot below, I simply turn my camera upside down (so that I don’t have to take the strap off my neck) and then later reverse the image in editing.