Fly to fall in love with Sky @ Bir Billing

Many of us dream to fly like bird. To fulfill this dream thought of doing this activity of Paragliding.

We planned Himachal trip from Mumbai with our iteniary to places like Dalhousie, Dharamshala, Manali, Kullu etc. Most of the time we travel without any rigid iteniary. We go with the flow. This benefitted us most of the time to explore off beat destinations. This was a family trip with my kids and in-laws. We took a taxi from Pathankot and explored destinations like Dalhousie, Khajjiar, Dharamshala etc. Our driver suggested this place and mentioned it to be the best place for paragliding. I got very exited to try this and we included Bir Billing in our travel plan.

We reached Bir Billing little late in evening and so could not take paragliding that day. So we decided to halt there and fly early morning. In morning the vehicle arrived to take us at the paragliding point. The vehicle was going up and up on the hills and finally we reached the top of the hills.

An activity which seemed easy now scared me when the instruction was given to run towards the edge of the mountain. Looking down and jumping from 2400 metres scared with numerous thoughts like what if the parachute does not open, what if I am not tied properly etc. etc. Now on reaching the final point, I cannot backout also so gathered all the courage, prayed to God and put full trust on the pilot and agreed the instructions.

So the preparations began. All the tieing of equipments, parachutes, seat all done and I was told to run towards the edge. With all these tied I was finding difficult to run with the fear filling and I fell near the edge. Again the process started with all the courage and finally found myself flying above 2400 metres. At this moment felt on the top of world and it was a wonderful feeling. For the first time in life had witnessed such an uninterrupted view of the sky, for the first time I was above the trees, flying in open sky like a bird. I enjoyed looking all over the mountains breathing fresh air. I clicked some picures form the Gopro given to me. The world below seemed so tiny. I enjoyed every minute of this 20 minute flying experience. Seeing my fear fly away, the pilot asked if I would like to enjoy stunts also if not scared and I agreed. So I revolved round in the air, flew in speed etc. Finally it was time to land down. My kids and in-laws had already reached the ground point and the kids got excited to see us landing from the sky and were calling us. Best is the only word that comes to my mind to describe this experience.

About Bir Billing :

Located in Himachal Pradesh. Bir Billing is referred to as the Paragliding capital of India. The takeoff point in Billing is the second highest in the world towering at 8000 ft offering panoramic view of the valley below. Paragliding world cups are also conducted here which makes this place famous with the Foreign tourists as well. The landing site is in the fields of Chowgan in Bir.

One can drive to this place from Delhi or buses also available from Delhi.

Bir Billing is 2 hours drive from Dharamshala

Ahju is the nearest railway station around 3km away. Nearest broad guage railway station is Pathankot which is around 140 kms from Bir.

Bir Billing is not only about paragliding. Other activities can be trekking, camping etc. There are also many monestries the most popular is Chokling Tibetian Monestary.

About Paragliding

Cost per person around 2500 - 3000. Extra charges for gopro / photographs

Age above 18 yrs and weight below 120 kgs.

Experienced paragliders can fly solo and others have to take the tandem flight with trained pilots.