India
Bir
A paragliding town with the best sunsets and food
Bir is one of the long-term travellers' favourite places in India. I have stayed here for a long time and keep coming back to this place again and again.
What to do?
Bir is one of those places where people tend to stay for a while. You can easily spend weeks here using it as a workation or simply as a place to slow down and relax. But there are still plenty of things to do.
1. Paragliding
For starters, you can simply go tandem with a pilot, which costs around ₹3,000. Or, if you want to learn, you can actually become a pilot yourself.
Bir is one of the epicentres of paragliding in India and has hosted both pre-World Cup events and World Cup events.
P1–P2 is the beginner course, where you learn the basics of taking off, flying and landing. The usual course is around 5 days, costs ₹25,000–30,000 and includes around 5 flights.
P3 is where things get more interesting. You learn to use thermals (pockets of rising warm air) to stay in the air for longer and gain altitude. It usually takes around 10–12 days, costs ₹30,000–40,000 and includes around 10 flights.
2. Go to the hot springs
There is a hot spring around 30 minutes from Bir. A nice little trip when you want to get out for a few hours.
3. Hike to Rajgundha
You can hike to Rajgundha, or take a scooter part of the way and explore from there.
The people
What really makes Bir one of the best places to stay for a long time, though, are the people.
There is a really nice mix of locals, pilots, travellers, backpackers and people who came here for a few days and somehow ended up staying for months. Because so many people return to Bir, you keep running into familiar faces, and it is surprisingly easy to make friends.
There is a very relaxed, welcoming feeling to the place. You can meet someone at a cafe, end up going for a hike or a flight together, and suddenly have a whole group to hang out with. For me, this is a big part of why I keep coming back.
Where to stay?
1. Hostel Stories — One of the best backpacker hostels in India, situated right near the stream.
2. Social Monkeys — Large rooms, a kind host and more of a party-hostel atmosphere.
Food
This is probably what I love most about Bir. The food here is ridiculously good, and there are way more options than you'd expect from a small mountain town.
- Silver Lining — French toast, shakshuka and mango pie
- Avvas — Dosa
- Cho Chos — Chole kulche and pav bhaji
- Shere Punjab — Chicken curry and roti
- Cafe 366 — Red rice and beans
- Feel Nature Cafe — Siddu
- Vanshika — Veg momos
- Soul Kadi — Misal pav
- Nyingma — Pork shabta with tingmo
- Musafir Cafe — Hot chocolate (it's thick, as it should be)
- Cloud Door — Pizza and biryani
- Little Bir — Tacos and burgers
There are definitely more places I love, but I can't remember all of them right now.