Prague: A blissful madness

Prague, once known as a city of a hundred spires, is a beautifully woven place of wonder and buoyancy, mixed with the serenity of old world charm. This city came onto our bucket list not just for its beauty, but also for one other thing:  Skydiving. I know that sky diving today can be done everywhere, but the experience that we had here was worth every penny. The name of the activity itself suggests madness and tranquility at the same time, or maybe the latter is just me. The bus ride was a prime example of this, which we began with excited chatter, and moved on to nervous si-lence. And as we reach the destination and go put on our jumpsuits, it seems more and more like we are all on a mission together. The instructor can feel the nervousness, and starts to calm everyone down with one-liners.

Once everyone is suited, strapped, and ready to take the plunge… that one person asks “what if the chute doesn't open?” The instructor quipped back: “then the dive is free!” Everyone started laughing with him.

Walking down the runway with the gear on makes you feel like you are in a movie and going on a mission. But as we reach the plane, I suddenly see the real heroes standing there with their gear on. They were the professional divers. Obviously, my moment was over. We were paired with a professional diver and a cameraman each, who gave their own two cents on how this would work. We all sit in the plane with our tandem divers and look at each other: A Chinese girl beside me starts to mumble and I could see her fear, so I reach out and hold her hand. We all look at each other and smile encouragingly. As the plane picks up speed and takes to the sky, your adrenaline levels start rising at the same speed. Your level of excitement is at its peak. There is no fear anymore, because in your heart you know you have reached a point of no return. All you see around you is the beautiful sky and the fact that you are about to jump from 14,000 feet! There is only one thing in your head: "This is going to be either the best moment of my life, or the last.”  

As the plane door opens, a swift gush of cold and strong wind just rushes inside, and hits you as hard as the reality of your jump. Seeing the first person jump — I was fourth in line — was a thrill I cannot explain. And you start doing a last minute check on yourself and inch towards the door, you can feel your heartbeat in your head. I had always read the phrase “live in the moment”, but never quite understood it until this moment. The rush of the jump, the strong but mesmerising wind, and the feeling when you open your hands and let go, is something you can never be prepared for. As you are falling towards the earth, the birds view of the world is now yours.

The wind makes you feel lighter and your limbs in the air give you the feeling of flying. Even though it's less than a minute before your parachute opens up, it feels like an eternity. You don't want it to end. But the chute opening jolts you back to reality, and you cant help but quietly look around you. The view, ironically, is to die for. And as you drift down to the real world, you feel like a stronger person, a person who can do anything.

Many of my friends always ask me how my sky diving experience was, and I have always had difficulties explaining. Now I realise that this is an experience not worth explaining, but experiencing. You can never explain it, because you didn't just see it, eat it or touch it, but you felt it. Prague for me will always be the city where you can find endless beauty and serenity but also can find crazy entertainment like underground parties, amazing people, and crazy experiences. It is a city for you to lose yourself, and maybe even find yourself.