Here is yet another piece on my recent trip to "Bir Billing" (Himachal) . This has been on my mind for over a year now and I finally got to it yayyy 😁. Bir billing is one of the top most para gliding hub of Asia. Apparently a few of years ago in 2015 the para gliding world tournament was held here. It is a small township in himachal and there isn't much of urbanisation. It is donned with multiple fresh water streams running through the lush green mountains and Billing is the paragliding spot up hill from where you take the leap 😉. Apart from billing the other take off spot is Baijnath which has temple area etc.
We 2 girls(yes girls and not ladies as we are still young at heart haha) were all excited to get on this trip post almost one months prior planning and chasing the travel vendor. Now!!! we both aren't in our 20's, I am in my mid 30's and my bestie is in her late 30's , you must be wondering why am I giving out the age statistics here LOL, well I am trying to make a point that age is NOT a stopping factor when it comes to travel or adventure. Anyway, so our trip started off by landing in Delhi post which we took off to Bir on an overnight bus journey. We aren't used to bus travels but nevertheless we made it pretty alright haha !! Our stay was at a nice simple guest house and our balcony view opened to the lightly snow covered mountains close to the landing spot for the gliders. As we checked into the room we went straight to the balcony at around 10 ish in the morning we saw some gliders performing air stunts and some were gliding in the air like pretty colourful birds and some were descending down to land...WHATTTA site i tell you 😁😁😁 we girls couldn't hold our excitement back. We started jumping with glee and took quick showers with nice piping hot water all thanks to the Eco friendly solar system. We gobbled down some quick light breakfast and headed out to Billing. They took us up the hill in a van as the distance is close to 12 - 15 km and it's all hilly. The roads are all mucky and Stony due to the previous bouts of land slides. Our gliding pilots travelled along with us giving us tit bits about the gliding experience.
My inquisitive side came up with an array of questions for the pilots. I learnt that the pilot gets a licence post 3 years of flying and practise. Their parachute is manufactured at some place oversees and the vendor who sells them is based out of Manali. There are 3 types of gliding one is the "Tandem flying" - this is what we did, flying for 20 mins or so , "Air Acrobats" - air stunts and "Cross country gliding" - this is at a duration of 1 to 1.5 hours flying from one city to another.The parachute gets damaged if touched by water, these are cleaned by plain dry cloth. My pilot had over 8 years of gliding experience, who also takes part in gliding tournaments and my besties pilot has been flying for around 4 years. The men were simple, sweet and sober (the triple 'S' , haha). These are all trained pilot's who took up gliding as a sport but eventually also got involved into tourism in order to support their familes. Everybody in Bir learns to para glide (lucky them), like water babies these folks are the air babies haha. As we were getting closer to the the take off spot our excitement was gradually turning into FEARRRR. I kept whispering to my bestie that i wanted to go back home, the fear and anticipation was growing on us and we were talking S*$t haha !!
We finally reached up the hill. The view from top was breath taking. It was lush green till the last spot the eyes could reach. We were still scared , we gathered the courage put on our gliding gears followed the quick instructions from our pilots. Like a little 5 year old girl i looked at my pilot as if he was my hero (Superman) and in return he casually told me "Tension math lo" (don't worry) just enjoy karo. And i took a big gulp of fear once again haha. My bestie took off before me into the clear blue skies. Then came my turn, i stood at the edge of the cliff my pilot fixed himself behind me and i was instructed to run. I put in all the force to run ahead but I couldn't move an inch from my spot because the parachute was so damn heavy. There was another helper who pulled me ahead and threw me off the cliff anddddddd we were up in the air. So i imagined that i will feel like a bird with wings in the open blue sky but to my luck the second we jumped off it got cloudy and I entered a cloud . I couldn't see anything except white cottony layer around me. I panicked and thought i am dead and have reached the heavens (my future deja vu moment) LOL. I have never felt such a deep pang of fear, i started to yell at my pilot telling him i cant see or feel anything. He was as cool as a cucumber and disregarded my ranting. He skillfully maneuvered the parachute and there we were finalllllly in the clear blue sky. We were smoothly gliding now and i was holding the GoPro camera in my hand to video the whole flying experience. Once i felt a little settled in the air 😋 i started enjoying the gliding and the view. The wind blew pretty strong and i felt like a free bird leaving all my worries and inhibitions behind . I literally got to see everything at a "Birds eye view" and i couldn't stop smiling at the experience and the beauty from up above. The take off point was at a height of about 6000 - 7000 ft and eventually you glide up to 9000 ft. The experience is exhilarating. I also realised that its necessary to wear sports sun glasses and ear plugs when gliding in order to take in the wind well.
The next day we headed out for trekking which passes by the oaks, Rhododendron and Deodar tears along the many small fresh water streams and water falls. Its refreshing. We went 3 kms trekking one way. Post this we then ventured out on our rented cycles for moutain biking. Intially it was touch as cycling on the town roads was chaotic but once you reach the start point the terrain in parrallel , smooth with green trees all along and minimal intervention of other vehicles. The sunset looks gorgeous from here. There is so much more to explore in Bir. People come in big groups for camping, trekking etc. People who camp have bonfire nights with live music etc.
All in all it was a wonderful action packed weekend getaway. We came back akm refreshed and rejuvenated. The highlights of the trip was - para gliding, place and the people. The himachalis are humble , warm and friendly. We were looked after so well. They are not highly educated but they had so much respect and consideration for everyone around them. One more life lessons i carried back with me. I am glad i did this trip and definitely want to para glide again, you need to face your fears to be able to get over them 😊. Not many people are aware of para gliding activities at Bir billing. I must say India has so much talent and tourism to offer. Please go out there travel and discover. With every travel you leave one worry behind and come back with a new learning. My travel list is just endless haha !! P.S - the mountains and nature make you look pretty ❤ Do check out a few snippets below from the trip
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