Bir. Billing. Paragliding. | Flying into the New Year [part 4]

It was the brightest and chirpiest morning. The first thing we did was an enquiry – about paragliding. As soon as we got down, we asked Avinash about it and surprise, surprise – the booking office was straight down in sight of Mavro. He gave us a slot of time to and set off to explore Bir, it is the tiniest and most beautiful, with cozy cafes. It was this one street connecting the narrow lanes, and so we wandered and found zostel and any other stays. The first monastery we visited had its door closed, with a huge scale it was also a delicate composition of intricate carvings filled with colors, of beautifully paneled windows, and there was silence, a silence very much calm.

After capturing it we went to another monastery, where the campus was huge and one of its doorways framed the greens of the mountain in front and nothing else. It was lively with kids playing and a little of landscape brought in, colored walls, clothes hanging, a white and another golden stupa. If we had an entire day, we would have stayed there – the location was perfect.

Next stop was at a café [blue homey walls, and we were alone] for breakfast, selecting pancakes and coffee turned out to be amazing [took a luxury picture of the setting – a bucket list moment], completing it was another task. Later we walked around a little more, witnessing some more crazy exteriors of cafes [for a tiny place, Bir surely has a soul]. If I close my eyes now, I can feel the bliss that it holds [or at least the blissful moments that I had – it is not missing but craving to be there].

And finally, we reached the landing ground [so very big]. We stared at it before turning away and made our way to check out what all the shops of Bir offered and of course there was nothing plain about them, they were filled with so many colors. Satisfied, we made our way back to Mavro, for the flight was approaching and we needed a little rest. Even though Bhagyashree wasn’t paragliding with us, she was the one punctual about it when she woke up me and Prachee [yeah, we fell asleep – more like lucid dreaming].

The hour of beginning of an experience so great was finally in motion, we walked down to the paragliding office [tiny cabin] and filled out forms, waited for our turn to get to the top of that mountain from where we were going to jump and then fly. The wait was soon over and the vehicles approached [of course, we chose to travel in the back of a mini pickup truck]. One of the passengers told us to sit tight as the road up was going to be bumpy, turns out it was a smooth ride compared to the one we had in Narkanda [story for another time]. Meanwhile, Bhagyashree was waiting for us in the landing ground with a camera.

There we were at the elevation of 2400 m above the ground, after Prachee it was my turn to jump off from that end off the cliff. It was shocking how many more people were there along with us, and yet while gliding through the air, I saw hardly anyone [great traffic diversion]. I was told to keep running before taking off, and in a matter of seconds I was flying [not alone, with a trained pilot – for I knew nothing about how to operate the flying gear, all I did was smile the entire time]. I could see the trails amidst all the trees [dense and compact], the farms and buildings looking like a scaled model, people in the landing ground, it was one of those feelings that they say cannot be described in words. And, so I would just say that I was seriously considering paragliding as a full time job [but here I am, trying to describe something which could only be felt when you are several meters off the ground, exposed to the atmosphere, becoming a spectator and an element]. I didn’t know there were flying tricks too until the pilot informed me about it, it was just floating, it was also swaying and turning and circling [like a dance in the air].

It was the half an hour I will always remember, landing wasn’t hard too [because I wasn’t the one controlling it]. Prachee and Bhagyashree were right there waiting for me, we got our go pro videos, Prachee also got some pictures of her flying and we settled there for a while. We watched the sun set in Bir [another bucket list moment], and it was mesmerizing [a day well well well spent].

We walked back to the café for dinner where we had breakfast, but one supper wasn’t enough so after that we went to another café for momos. We still had dessert to go, while Prachee went back to Mavro, I and Bhagyashree turned back towards the landing ground hunting for pastries. Well, we found some cookies instead, but heading back to Mavro we gave a shot to one of the crowded cafes and there we found the pastries we have been walking back and forth for while encountering the buildings glowing in the dark looking like jelly stuffed side by side. Upon reaching Mavro, we screamed for Prachee from the courtyard but instead she entered from the side steps [P.S. screaming is fun].

After chilling in the dorm for a while, I and Prachee headed up to the roof while Bhagyashree rested. The nights in the mountains are beautiful, the dark sky and bright stars. We met another stranger, shared some stories and laughed [talking to strangers could be easier sometimes]. After the fun conversations we departed to our dorm, but we entered it from the window instead of the door, and didn't want to wake Bhagyashree up. [how I love transition from windows]. But Bhagyashree wasn’t asleep yet, so we danced in the dark [ran across the dorm jumping] and finally went to sleep. For, ahead was a day of travelling.

"Free – Rudimental ft. Emeli Sande"