BIR BILLING - The Eco-tourism and flying haven!!

Bir is a beautiful village located in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. It's a mesmerizing beauty, away from the daily hustle-bustle and free from any commercialized tourism. The locals are very friendly, kind and benevolent. Always ready to help. We had planned this trip with a group of friends during a Holi weekend 20th March(Wednesday) to 24th March (Sunday). Planning well in advance can help you minimize your budget. Our trip was from Mumbai to Delhi by flight and overnight journey from Delhi to Bir(12 hours approx). We stayed in Bir for two nights(Thurs, Fri). Decided to spend Saturday in Dharamshala followed with an overnight journey back to Delhi airport on Sunday morning.

Here are the exciting, great highs of the trip. 

Day 1: 20th Mar Wed

We took a 3pm flight from Mumbai to Delhi and had booked a cab end-to-end. It's very convenient if you're a group of 4 peeps otherwise a budget trip of 2 people can be booked through local Himachal buses starting from Kashmiri Gate, Delhi. Mind you, you get only evening buses to Bir which generally start between 6.30-8pm max. So, you have to arrange to reach accordingly. So we hit the highway around 5-6pm and had planned dinner on Haryana highway at a place called Amrik Sukhdev. It's a 2-hour drive from the airport. Guys, you shouldn't miss visiting this place even if you're not a foodie. I bet you'll become one! 

And the food was to die for!!

Aloo chaat!!

Aloo onion paratha with dollops of butter! 

Their black dal is a must order!

Lachha paratha

Angoor rabdi

Chhole bhature!! 

Freak!! It's foodgasm even while typing. And ending it with a Kesar milk chai!  

After a good sleep, I was suddenly woken up by my friend in the car, exclaiming look outside- There's a snow-capped mountain! I was so zoned out, I didn't pay attention at the first go. And I couldn't even find them with half-open eyes. And then I suddenly manage to see it in the speeding car. 

What I saw were these beautiful white beauties in extreme winter, windy, cozy cuddly morning. 

Day 2: Reached Bir
We checked in at our booking- Camp Kasbah, Bir around 7AM... 

The camp Tents

Our Tent

View from the dining area

Dining area

Right outside our tent! 

We then moved to do the highlight of the entire trip - PARAGLIDING!
The tent arranges for moving from the Camp area to Billing which is at a height from where we paraglide. The road to reach the top is so narrow and dangerous that it's a thrill in itself.

Road uphill

And here's the spectacular view of Dhauladar range from the flying site.

And we flew. Tandem Paragliding is a liberating experience. Liberating one from your fears, if you're doing the first time. And you suddenly meet yourself half the way. It's splendid. It's an experience of connecting yourself as a human to nature and directly peeping into your soul and talking to it eye-to-eye. It's about forgetting your identity and just breathing and being grateful for the beauty of life. A shout out to god when you're right near him up in the air, thanking him for giving you eyes to watch all the beauty his world holds at the very moment. And you're floating through it, breathtakingly gazing at the pano view of tiny Tibetian monasteries, valleys, and fields. And when you look back, the snow-capped mountains smile back at you!!! It's surreal! Goosebumps! And worth living!

And then we just relaxed over the afternoon, after a brunch. We went for a local walk in and around the place in the evening.

Hot water bags for cozy winter tent

Day 3 

We visited the local monasteries and Uhl river. Uhl river is a short 30-40 min drive. 

Paplung Sherabling Monastery

Tse-Chokling Monastery

This was followed by a drive to the Uhl river.

We then went to the local Bir cafes. The first one is Glider's pizzeria

And moved to Silver Linings Cafe. It's a must go cafe at Bir. Their pancakes are to die for.

The fluffiest pancakes ever

Apple pie cake

Recycling of plastic bottles to make a wall

We had also been to a cafe called Moonshine Madness. They also have a retail outlet to buy souvenirs from Bir. 

And we met a huge dog there. Make a point to go and hug him. His name is THOR. 

Day 4 Dharamshala 

We started early and drove to Dharamshala from Bir. It's a 2-hour ride and we made a point to cover every sightseeing point there. The must visit is the Illiterati Cafe. We had also taken a slight detour to visit a famous momos place there called Naag View Kripal momo cafe. There's an old man who makes great momos out there. We had figured all the sightseeing in a sequence to reach at the end at the Dalai Lama temple and Bhagsu waterfalls. 

1. Norbulingka Institute

2.Dharamshala Cricket Stadium

3. Naag View Kripal Momo cafe

4. Tea gardens (you can give this a skip)

5. Illiterati cafe (A must visit. Food to live for and a view to die for.) This cafe also has a library along with games.

And of course, we visited the Dalai Lama temple. The entire trip can be budgeted around 20k. Below is a quick capture of the trip.

Bir & Dharamshala Itinerary Snapshot:

Cost:

• INR 6500/head Mumbai to Delhi booked to & fro booked 2 months in advance

• INR 5000-6000/head in a group of 4 for an SUV car end to end for approx. run of 11300km.

• INR 5500/head for stay at Camp Kasbah, Bir. Cost includes stay for 2 nights, 3 days including breakfast, dinner, bonfire, guided walk 30 mins, free sheesha (if you ask for it in advance). It also includes INR 2000 for arranging pickup, drop & actual paragliding. No tax if you pay there in cash. (yea!! Believe it or not! It's true! You can contact Manish Paul:7210820000 to book your stay at Camp Kasbah. He's a very sweet guy)

• The extra cost is food at Dharamshala & shopping.

I'd recommend everyone to visit Bir, and that's why I'm blogging about it. It's a beautiful place and you can never go wrong here. It's the best place even to only go for novel-reading or just solo tripping. Cheers!!

**********