H had put us in touch with one of his friends from Manali, so we waited for the call to tell us whether the weather conditions for paragliding were suitable. We eventually headed off around 11:30, which gave us some time to do some well overdue blog updating (via the very flaky internet connection we were able to access). The power here in Manali goes off all the time, so it's difficult to do anything consistently.
We headed off to the paragliding site over the Kullu Valley. We had a 20 minute drive to the meeting point, where we swapped to a jeep to take us up even further, and then another walk up the mountain of about 30 min after that.
Once strapped in to our chutes, the assistants check the wind conditions, and at the right moment you just run towards the takeoff point. The chute then lifts you up and you start to float - it's really quite easy. After that, it's a 15-20 minute glide to the landing point, soaring over the valley.
Once we landed (and soft landings they were too) we headed off for a nice lunch of local trout with H's friend Manas and the paragliding operator.
After a long lunch, a drive through the mountains, a stop at Kullu Castle, and then back to Manali. It was our last full day in Manali (and India), K finally got to do some of that shopping she'd been hanging out to do for some time!
As it was also New Year's Eve, we also quietly saw in the New Year (with fireworks and cheering from the street as it turned 12), and to bed just after midnight, as we had a 5am start the next day to depart India and head to Kuala Lumpur.
1 comment:
I have this adventure in my bucket list.I wish I can do it some time.
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