Bir Billing

3 days of unrelenting travel on buses and trains got me across the border, in and out of Delhi and finally up to Bir. I arrived on the local bus in the late afternoon, a little non plussed at what I found: a small town with a few shops but not much sign of any guesthouses or restaurants, of which I knew there were atleast a few. Help was above however and watching gliders coming into land a km or two away I set off on a walk towards them, eventually wandering into the paragliding bit of Bir (the Tibetan colony) and found myself a nice room at the Green House. 

 

I spent the next month there. I definitely arrived late in the season, the place emptying of pilots around the 15th of November but had some good flying in the first week and was rewarded with a few amazing days late on. The first few days I was mainly cruising around, finding my feet, with some fairly easy out and returns along the ridge. 

 

Bir

Sunset landing zone

Its text book flying, right on the edge of the Himalayas, with a spine fingered ridge rising straight up out of the flat lands. Thermals pop off right where you expect them to, Himalayan Griffin vultures roam the sky, and even on a bad day it's possible to fly the 45km to Dharamsala and back (although I only managed it once). 

One of the many Tibetan Budhist monasteries in the area

Looking NW from 360

That's me

I met a few English pilots - Dan, Rich and Dave from the Isle of Wight - on launch after a few days and tagged along with them for the following 2 weeks. 

The vultures are an absolute joy to fly with and it seems they like paragliders too. I had one drop in on me from 100m above and join me in a thermal for a few turns, cruising just above my glider. A few days later I was following Dan on a valley crossing and could see a vulture flying in close proximity. I was trying to work out who was following who across the valley until Dan went searching for a thermal and the vulture shadowed him all the way, soon circling and climbing together. It was a delight to watch but very distracting for my own flying! The vulture only left when Dan took a big, noisy collapse. 

The weather had been pretty hazy in my first few days but after a day of rain we were presented with a promising weather window and everyone got excited about flying over the back and into the proper mountains. The goal was the commiting 45km flight to Manali. The day didn't quite live up to expectations, with base never getting that high (around mountain top height of 4200m) but it was spectacular all the same, if challenging at times. I didn't manage to fly to Manali but I did end up in Kullu further down. I had an exciting landing: taking a massive collapse as I came into land and falling the last 10m of my journey. Rivers are bad places to land next to I now know. I survived however and with the help of the incredibly friendly locals made the final leg to Manali in a taxi to meet up with Dan and Rich who had made it. It was the final night of Diwali and fire crackers were exploding left right and centre.

Happy to be alive! 

Had a hobble around Manali the next morning and then got a taxi for the long but beautiful 6 hour ride back out the valley and on to Bir. 

Manali

 

I didn't have a lucky few days. The next day back in Bir I got bitten by one of the streets dog. The little bugger just snuck up behind me and attacked my calf. After telling a few people though I soon established that this particular dog was a well known menace, happily attacking unwary tourists and locals alike for the last few years. 

The street dogs in Bir are numerous but generally friendly and well behaved. During the day at least, as as soon as it's dark they gather in rowdy packs and run rampage throughout the night. If they aren't engaged in turf wars they're sure to be howling at one another. By the morning they're exhausted and the streets are littered with sleeping dogs.

A big high pressure system settled in after that and the days got steadily more and more stable. Finally made it to Dharamsala though. A great flight on my own after fighting to get above the inversion around 2800m and then flying the big ridge at the back to get up to 3800m and along to Dharamsala. Didn't think there was much chance I'd make it back but a few weak climbs in the dying day got me almost home, falling short by just a few km. A new PB of 94km. 

This way to Dharamsala

 

There wasn't much xc potential after that but still had some nice flights, down the other way to check out the setup at 360, top landing at the golf course for a game of chess, and some lovely boating about with some tunes on.

Up at 360

On the way back from 360

Bir itself is a quiet little town, split into Upper and Lower Bir; Lower Bir being the Tibetan colony and paraglider hangout. The only tourists here are pilots and Buddhist students - quite a few young Americans with freshly shaved heads draped with big scarves.

Learning some Tibetan

Tibetan ceremony at one of the Monasteries in town