Mini XC in Nepal

Our four day paragliding trek went really well and was overall a very good experience. Our adventures included visiting an elementary school where we were each given at least a couple dozen flower necklaces (leis), having some local ladies dance for us while offering us home-brew alcohol (Roxy) from a Jerry can, and of course, the paragliding. I think everyone from our group had at least one great flight and whether it was flying in amongst the clouds or simply marveling at the height of Himalayas, it was an experience to remember.

Flying with vultures is extremely common here, and boy, are they huge! It's quite intimidating flying with these massive birds who are so curious about paragliders that they will literally fly wingtip to wingtip with you. Although there have been cases where the birds have collided with gliders, the best advice I was given is to simply thermal the same direction as the birds. That way, it is less likely that they will collide with your lines and you can enjoy your flight with these majestic creatures. I've certainly never flown so close to birds before – these ones will follow you, check you out and as you fly, you can literally make eye contact with them – how cool is that!

Distance-wise, we had to fly from one site to another on two out of the four days, and thankfully I made it! A couple times I got low, but managed to climb my way back up again, usually thanks to the plentiful birds who marked the thermals. The distances were never huge – around 20k's or so, but it sure is nice when you don't have to find your own retrieve after landing out.

Every day is flyable here although like anywhere, some days are definitely better than others. I haven't flown for the last couple of days as after the trek I wanted a bit of a break to check out other things, but now that I'm ready to fly again, my stomach is not allowing me! Everyone in our group has experienced stomach problems since arriving here and I guess it was finally my turn. That's the crappy (ha ha ha!) thing about Nepal – you'll likely be bound to the toilet at some point during your trip.

I'm still here for another week and I'd like to do some more cross-country around Pokhara. I'd like to try a new route, so we'll see how that goes. I could do without riding the public bus again for retrieve, so my goal is to always land back at Lakeside! In any case, it'll be good to get in the air again.