Bir Billing — The Worst Travel Experience I’ve Ever Had

And it was MY fault

Image by author: Me getting off the paraglider

For almost 3 months I had my eyes on Asia’s highest paragliding spot —the Bir Village in Himachal Pradesh.

Bir in a nutshell was an offbeat village amidst the Himalayan range with lots of monasteries. Popular but only to niche travelers. Colorful cafeterias. And skies with even more colorful with paragliders.

Living in Bangalore at the time, Himachal Pradesh was a flight and an overnight bus journey away. That meant Bir for only a couple of days was an expensive thought.

So like most stupid people, I planned more around the trip and put Manali — a touristy part of Himachal Pradesh — on the itinerary, making it an even more expensive trip.

The itinerary was to visit Manali first for 3 days and then take that magic bus to Bir.

But I had no regrets about it. Himachal Pradesh – who wouldn’t want to stay longer?

To those still unaware, it’s the same Indian state that runs along the magnificent peaks of the Himalayas. I was bound to be awestruck by the peaks looming over me from every direction.

And it was exactly as I expected. As soon as the bus neared Manali, I had my nose pressed to the windows looking up at the humongous mountains with snowy…