Top 5 Things to do at Bir-Billing, Himachal Pradesh
Bir is a tiny town in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh
that we explored during the Gandhi Jayanti long weekend. As we drove there, we
crossed several ‘popular’ hill stations on our way including Palampur and
Kangra Valley. I wasn’t expecting Bir to be the way we found it. Honestly, I am
glad we visited and spent 3 days there.
At first reaching there one might wonder if the place has
anything at all to offer since it is hardly commercialised. Here are top 5
things to do if you are visiting Bir-Billing in Himachal Pradesh:
1. Paragliding
Bir-Billing
is considered the 2nd best place in the world for paragliding. (I
Googled for the 1st, there seem to be a conflict between places in
France and New Zealand) The 2015 paragliding world cup was held in Bir-Billing,
yet the place remains unknown to larger sections of the Indian population.
This,
perhaps, is the biggest reason why one would want to visit this hilly town.
Register with one of the adventure companies in Bir or talk to your hotel
manager to arrange it. You would be taken from Bir to Billing, a distance of
about 15 kms, in about 45 minutes in a jeep. On reaching Billing, you would
paraglide to reach the landing site in Bir anywhere between 10 to 25 minutes depending
on wind conditions and your willingness to stay in air.
Do
note that paragliding is a heavily weather-dependant activity. Our flight was
delayed by two days because of cloud cover and the huge demand during the long
weekend. Try and secure a spot in the first batch of fliers early in the
morning (6.30 AM!) and avoid long weekends if you can. We were told there were
just 80 licensed pilots and over 400 people in the waiting list that weekend.
Mid-October
to Mid-November is the best time for paragliding although it is open all
through the year except the monsoons (July-September)
Cost:
Rs.2500 for the flight, Rs.500 for the video, Rs.200 for candid DSLR pictures.
Bargain!
2. Take a leisurely walk
The
best part about Bir is that it is yet to get commercialized. There are a few cafes
opening up to cater to the growing tourist numbers but still it is going to be
at least a few years before the place gets jampacked like Darjeeling or even
Dharamshala. Prices in restaurants are nominal and hotels charge nothing
exorbitant.
Take
a walk through the streets of the hilly town. Discover Upper Bir (the Indian
village) and Lower Bir (the Tibetan area), walk through the tea gardens, head
to the landing site and watch the numerous and colourful paragliders flying in
the air, visit the Tibetan monastery and temple, sit by the stream, and most of
all, breathe the fresh mountain air.
You
won’t be jostling with hundreds of tourists for a quiet walk or to find a seat
at your favourite café.
3. Try the many cafes and the food
Any place that starts as a backpackers paradise has its
share of quiet and quaint cafes. Walk into one of the many cafes lined up on
both sides of the main road. We particularly liked the food at Vairagi Café, we
loved the momos made by the Himachali aunty at a tiny roadside shop that you
could easily miss. The ambience at Musafir- travel café- was brilliant and if
you have a day to chill visit this place to meet some like-minded travelers and
to chat with Gaurav, the engineer-turned-traveller owner for his interesting
story.
4. Head out on a day trip
Baijnath, a place popular for its ancient Shiv Temple, is
just 11 kms from Bir. Palampur is about 25 kms from Bir. If you have a free
day, drive down to these hill stations, find a quiet spot for yourself and
marvel at the beauty of nature. You could also take a ride on the
Pathankot-Joginder Nagar toy train- the nearest station is Ahju, just 2 kms
from Bir. (Check the train schedule)
5. Camping at Billing hilltop
There are several adventure companies that offer camping on
the hilltop of Billing. These are the Quechua tents and so you actually have
camping experience on a hilltop instead of spending lot of money for the luxury
Swiss tents elsewhere. You can perhaps carry your own tent and pitch it where
you like, but be careful of the winds- they tend to get very harsh at times on
the hills and if the tent isn’t pitched right, you might get a free flight in
your sleep.
When
our paragliding got delayed by two days we were wondering what to do since
there really isn’t anything else to do in the place. We discovered these things
and managed to spend the time well.
Do
plan a trip to Bir Billing soon before the place gets commercially taken over
and the long weekends start seeing thousands of people converging here and
snarls of vehicles stuck in traffic jams.
How
to reach:
There
are overnight Volvo buses running from Delhi to Bir daily which take close to
12 hours to cover the distance. You can also drive down to the hilly town. It
is a 540 km distance and the roads are very good. The hilly stretch is about
150 kms. It could take anywhere between 10-12 hours to reach.
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