Alpha
Going to Neverland
Presenting a short account of road trip to Bir-Billing. These day i dont click much, just sharing few pics taken from my cell phone.
Bir - Billing
Journey Details –
Dates of journey: Saturday, 21st October 2023(night) – Tuesday, 24th October 2023
Route Taken: Delhi – Mandi – Joginder Nagar – Bir-Billing – Mandi – Delhi
Total Distance Covered: 1000 kms (approx)
Manpower: Alpha(Alok), Manish Mishra
Vehicle used: Gurkha 4X4X4 (2022) owned by Manish
It had been a while since I last travelled to Himachal. I could not even remember when I last visited Himachal, proper Himachal, though I had visited Zanskar Valley this June only, still I do not consider it as Himachal since Zanskar is a world in its own. And I consider Spiti similarly. Hence, a craving for Himachal was brewing up.
A long weekend awaited on Dusserah. Few additional offs made it perfect five-day road trip. So the plan was set. We were going to Saach Pass and return via Killar and Bhaderwah. However, nothing happens as planned, always. Some eleventh hour office work erupted which disrupted our plan. Our here means my colleague, friend and co-traveler Manish. In fact, he was the culprit behind the delay. So the plan was cut short to 3 days. Himachal was still the preferred destination. Janjehli was floated as a choice which was rejected by Manish. Then Bir-Billing came to my mind as we had crossed it few years ago during our previous road trip. He readily agreed to that.
So almost 25 road trips later, I zeroed in on Bir-Billing for a relaxed road trip. Mind you I had no intention to do paragliding, I simply wanted to visit a small town and chill.
We completed our work soon enough on Saturday, hence we decided to start journey on Saturday night. Manish picked me up around 9 in the night from my home and in no time we were at Karnal Bye-pass. We stopped at Murthal for a quick bite. Thereafter we drove till 3 in the morning before taking a break at a Dhaba few miles before Kiratpur. We slept in Gurkha for almost three hours. We freshened up at the Dhaba, had a tea and reached the new four lane roads for Manali in a jiffy. We enjoyed the drive all the wat till Mandi. From Mandi the total distance remained about 70 kms. From Mandi the usual single lane and broken roads started. In between though good roads also appeared but it was a mix of both – smooth two lane and narrow broken all the way till Joginder Nagar. We stopped for breakfast few miles after crossing Mandi. Thereafter we took it slow and enjoyed the drive till our destination – Bir.
We looked for a decent stay on the Bir-Billing road, however, most of the accommodations were full due to the hosting of Cross Country World Cup Paragliding International Championship at Bir-Billing from October 26 to November 2. Participants from 26 nations were participating in the Championship and most of the rooms were occupied. We managed two rooms in a small but comfortable home stay called Tripti Home Stay on the Bir-Billing road which was hardly 2-3 kms away from landing ground. We had some food, rested for a while and then headed towards the Bir landing ground. A lot of activity was happening at the landing ground and the entire lane towards the landing ground and thereafter sported numerous cafes and hotels where we could spot equal mix of Indian and foreign crowd where most of the foreigners being the participant for the Championship. However, we could not see any landing happening. On inquiry we came to know that a day before a local lad had a crash and died on the spot due to which today paragliding was halted. It was a kind of setback for the participants who were here for practice. We roamed around for a while, then visited a café for some snacks before heading back to our home stay for some much needed rest.
views after crossing Mandi
Gurkha
Our Home stay
view from our home saty
Bir Landing Ground
a routine evening, nothing special about it
a secluded cafe we visited
Night was a bit cold but not chilly. We had a comfortable sleep. After breakfast we headed towards the Billing which was around 15 kms from our home stay. We had to drive carefully as the road was narrow and the plying taxis’s were in a great hurry to ferry passengers. There was a huge rush of the paragliders at the top perhaps due to the backlog of day before. We spent an hour observing others gliding as we had no intention to do it ourselves. We came down to Bir and then headed to Baijnath and visited the famous Baijnath Shiv Temple. After the darshan we came back to Bir landing ground and had some food at Rogue Café. Food was good and spent some time there till the sun was about to set. Suddenly the weather has changed with dark clouds and possibility of a shower. However, the rains eluded but it left a great sky line during sunset. After a fulfilling evening at the landing ground we returned back to our home stay for dinner and rest. After a comfortable nigh, it was the time to leave Bir and head back to home. The return journey was event less, by 8 pm, we reached to the confines of our home.
Billing paragliding point
Baijnath Shiv Temple
Rogue Cafe near Bir Landing Ground
Wood fire Pizza is a specialty here
second evening was magical here
End of the Log. Thanks for reading..
Bir - Billing
Journey Details –
Dates of journey: Saturday, 21st October 2023(night) – Tuesday, 24th October 2023
Route Taken: Delhi – Mandi – Joginder Nagar – Bir-Billing – Mandi – Delhi
Total Distance Covered: 1000 kms (approx)
Manpower: Alpha(Alok), Manish Mishra
Vehicle used: Gurkha 4X4X4 (2022) owned by Manish
It had been a while since I last travelled to Himachal. I could not even remember when I last visited Himachal, proper Himachal, though I had visited Zanskar Valley this June only, still I do not consider it as Himachal since Zanskar is a world in its own. And I consider Spiti similarly. Hence, a craving for Himachal was brewing up.
A long weekend awaited on Dusserah. Few additional offs made it perfect five-day road trip. So the plan was set. We were going to Saach Pass and return via Killar and Bhaderwah. However, nothing happens as planned, always. Some eleventh hour office work erupted which disrupted our plan. Our here means my colleague, friend and co-traveler Manish. In fact, he was the culprit behind the delay. So the plan was cut short to 3 days. Himachal was still the preferred destination. Janjehli was floated as a choice which was rejected by Manish. Then Bir-Billing came to my mind as we had crossed it few years ago during our previous road trip. He readily agreed to that.
So almost 25 road trips later, I zeroed in on Bir-Billing for a relaxed road trip. Mind you I had no intention to do paragliding, I simply wanted to visit a small town and chill.
We completed our work soon enough on Saturday, hence we decided to start journey on Saturday night. Manish picked me up around 9 in the night from my home and in no time we were at Karnal Bye-pass. We stopped at Murthal for a quick bite. Thereafter we drove till 3 in the morning before taking a break at a Dhaba few miles before Kiratpur. We slept in Gurkha for almost three hours. We freshened up at the Dhaba, had a tea and reached the new four lane roads for Manali in a jiffy. We enjoyed the drive all the wat till Mandi. From Mandi the total distance remained about 70 kms. From Mandi the usual single lane and broken roads started. In between though good roads also appeared but it was a mix of both – smooth two lane and narrow broken all the way till Joginder Nagar. We stopped for breakfast few miles after crossing Mandi. Thereafter we took it slow and enjoyed the drive till our destination – Bir.
We looked for a decent stay on the Bir-Billing road, however, most of the accommodations were full due to the hosting of Cross Country World Cup Paragliding International Championship at Bir-Billing from October 26 to November 2. Participants from 26 nations were participating in the Championship and most of the rooms were occupied. We managed two rooms in a small but comfortable home stay called Tripti Home Stay on the Bir-Billing road which was hardly 2-3 kms away from landing ground. We had some food, rested for a while and then headed towards the Bir landing ground. A lot of activity was happening at the landing ground and the entire lane towards the landing ground and thereafter sported numerous cafes and hotels where we could spot equal mix of Indian and foreign crowd where most of the foreigners being the participant for the Championship. However, we could not see any landing happening. On inquiry we came to know that a day before a local lad had a crash and died on the spot due to which today paragliding was halted. It was a kind of setback for the participants who were here for practice. We roamed around for a while, then visited a café for some snacks before heading back to our home stay for some much needed rest.
views after crossing Mandi
Gurkha
Our Home stay
view from our home saty
Bir Landing Ground
a routine evening, nothing special about it
a secluded cafe we visited
Night was a bit cold but not chilly. We had a comfortable sleep. After breakfast we headed towards the Billing which was around 15 kms from our home stay. We had to drive carefully as the road was narrow and the plying taxis’s were in a great hurry to ferry passengers. There was a huge rush of the paragliders at the top perhaps due to the backlog of day before. We spent an hour observing others gliding as we had no intention to do it ourselves. We came down to Bir and then headed to Baijnath and visited the famous Baijnath Shiv Temple. After the darshan we came back to Bir landing ground and had some food at Rogue Café. Food was good and spent some time there till the sun was about to set. Suddenly the weather has changed with dark clouds and possibility of a shower. However, the rains eluded but it left a great sky line during sunset. After a fulfilling evening at the landing ground we returned back to our home stay for dinner and rest. After a comfortable nigh, it was the time to leave Bir and head back to home. The return journey was event less, by 8 pm, we reached to the confines of our home.
Billing paragliding point
Baijnath Shiv Temple
Rogue Cafe near Bir Landing Ground
Wood fire Pizza is a specialty here
second evening was magical here
End of the Log. Thanks for reading..
