Yayyyy - high in the clouds

Paragliding has been on my wishlist for a long time and Pokhara, Nepal seems to be the perfect place for it. With 8000 rupees (60€) for 15-30 minutes or 11000 rupees (81€) for 40-45 minutes, it's not cheap, but it's even more expensive in Europe. There are plenty of paragliding providers here and I decide to go with one recommended in the guidebook. The prices are the same everywhere, as are the departure times: 9:30 or 11:30 am. After several cloudy days, with only occasional sun and frequent rain showers, the weather app predicts chances of sunshine in the early morning on the next day. I am ready to leave the agency at 9 am, but they take their time, as Nepalese people do, and the minibus is not yet there. It's a good opportunity for me to have a Masala Milk Tea before we finally leave. The minibus is full of local pilots, their bulky paragliding backpacks, some Asian women, and me. We are greeted warmly by the tour leader and head up to Sarangkot, the take-off point at an altitude of 1500m. While the Asian women are engrossed in their phones and completely ignore the lovely surroundings, I wonder how the bus manages to climb up this narrow and steep gravel road. I enjoy the view that occasionally appears in the numerous curves, and my excitement grows. I am soooo thrilled and can't wait. Once we reach the top, it's only a few meters to the take-off field. The view is amazing, and I would love to take some selfies now. But my phone is down there. It's probably for the best since I don't have any pockets, but now I regret it. The friendly tour guide takes some pictures of my excitement and me.

While the Asian women just stand there bored, not knowing where to put my excitement anymore, and the pilots are happy that I'm so thrilled. I feel like a child on the first day of school, holding the most beautiful school bag. I am assigned a pilot.

Bhuban is likable. He puts on my flight harness and explains which carabiners I MUST NOT detach. Okay. The gear feels surprisingly loose, but it must be right. Bhuban introduces me to the secrets of take-off: "Look to the horizon, don't look to the ground. Walk when I say 'Walk!' and run when I say 'Run!'. Don't sit, don't jump!" Aha, so I just have to simply run across the meadow, beyond the cliff, into the horizon, into nothingness. How crazy is that? But I don't have much time to ponder because I hear his command "Walk" and two steps later "Run." And before I know it, we are already in the air, far before the cliff, and we fllllllly! Yayyyyyy! Woooow, that was so easy.

I'm sitting comfortably as if in a hammock. I didn't expect it to be this comfortable. I spontaneously decide to extend the short flight to a longer one. Bhuban spirals us up, using the thermals, to gain altitude and extend the flight time.

I see all the colorful paragliders below us as we enter the cloud. I can't see anything here. No reference point, no up, no down, nothing but fog. I find that uncomfortable and my stomach does a little flip every time the paraglider jerks and suddenly drops. Like turbulence on a plane, so nothing unusual in the clouds, but I feel it more intensely. I wonder how Bhuban can orient himself, but he tells me that he can see something down there. Well, at least one of us can, and I'd rather it be him than me! To avoid collisions, he whistles loudly at regular intervals, like the buses here before they zoom around the corner. And then he lets me hold the paraglider in my hands and I get to be the pilot. Soooo exciting!

The visibility clears up and with it comes my sense of well-being. The cloud cover breaks and the sun comes out. I want to cheer. It's soooo beautiful! We slowly circle above Sarangkot, above the city and the lake. It's magnificent, even better than I imagined. Bhuban tells me what there is to see, and I enjoy the view and the fantastic feeling of flying!!!

With his GoPro, he takes hundreds of photos and some videos. I can barely contain my enthusiasm. We can chat, and I learn about the extensive training required to become a pilot. On one hand, it's understandable that each pilot has to buy their own expensive equipment and GoPro, but on the other hand, it's concerning. If any issues arise with the equipment, each pilot will try to fix them at the expense of safety because they can't just buy a new one. Krishna told me that the average monthly income in Nepal is 150€, which is really not much.

We leisurely circle through the air. I could fly like this for hours. I didn't expect flying to be so pleasantly slow, and I feel absolutely comfortable.

We start to descend much too soon. Bhuban explains that landing is very easy. I just need to stretch my legs forward and stand up when he gives the command. We land slowly. I can't manage to stand up and gently tip over into the grass. A boy quickly comes over and untangles the paraglider, then folds it like an accordion and puts it in the giant backpack to make room for the next person. Bhuban shows me on his paragliding app the circles we made and the fact that we descended 700-800 meters. Looking at the time, we realize that we were in the air for more than an hour. Yeeeeeaaaaaah! Very nice of the pilot. The Asian women are standing there and waiting for quite some time, apparently for me, and it's been 45 minutes already. Oops. What can I say? It was awesome!!!! I would love to go up again right away, and for the rest of the day, I'm in a state of excitement. Must be the adrenaline. Hehe!