It was more than one hour since I had left Kangra in a Bus for Baijnath. The Bus was stopping at every bus stop on the way, making it take quite a time for a short distance. Baijnath is a small town in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. One can easily get a local bus from Baijnath Bus Stand to Bir for a mere ten rupees. Bir is nearly 12km from Baijnath and would take around 20-25 min to reach Bir in a Bus.
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Bir Billing
Bir is a small village in Himachal Pradesh from where the ascend to Billing starts. Billing is the most famous site for paragliding in India. It attracts a number of paragliding pilots from India and across the world. The peak season for paragliding is from September to November holding a number of International Competitions during the period. The paragliding launch site is a top of the hill starting from Bir. If you are traveling by your own vehicle you can drive to the top or take a pre-booked cab to reach the top. The path to the top is quite steep, so you must be quite experienced driving on hills to take a chance to drive yourself up to the hill.
Pre Requirements
It is best to pre-book a pilot for paragliding. You can easily book a pilot online from a number of sites. On pre-booking they provide a free cab to pick you from Bir to the launch site. The fee varies with the time you want to spend on the flight. The minimum time for a flight is 20min and will cost Rs.2500. Flight videos & Pics will be charged Rs.500 extra.
The View
The View is magnificent from the Launch site. There is a big valley in front of the launch site at least a 1000m deep from the top. There is a tea stall at the launch site where you can take a break and refresh. While having tea the pilot and the cab driver gave me instructions about the flight and things I should take care of. There are two seats with the glider one for you and the other for the pilot.
The Flight
Once set with the glider, the pilot told me to run along with him and keep on running till we are in the air. My heart was pumping, I had never done paragliding in my life before. There was a deep valley in front of me, what if we keep running and we didn’t take flight, then there’s only one direction we are going then and that was deep down :(. All sorts of thoughts were coming in my mind.But soon after running we took flight and were sailing the winds. It’s quite a blood rush feeling when there is nothing below your feet and flying among the clouds. The pilot will take you over several hills and will also show you various Buddhist monasteries in the valley. High snow peaks of Dhauladar range are visible from anywhere in the valley and the pilot can take you over them on a clear day but will cost your wallet extra.
The Landing
The landing site is on the southern edge of Bir. The Pilot takes complete control during landing told me not to do anything while landing and make sure my feet do not touch the ground till we land. There are a number of photographers at the landing site taking landing photos. You can take your respective pics included in the Rs.500 charges. The Cab driver which took you to the launch site will also be there waiting for you. After landing he took me to a restaurant where I had lunch.
Bir Billing is a lifetime experience you must have if you are in the valley.
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