$30 Paragliding in Pokhara, Nepal 🇳🇵

I used the new cable car in Pokhara to make my way to Sarangkot. Sarangkot is a very popular hill station, a beautiful village, high up in the hills that overlook the Pokhara valley.

The 'Annapurna Cable Car' has only been operational since earlier this year and comes from a Japan company. It's very new and modern, although there's no AC. The journey cost 1,000 rupees ($8 USD) for a return ticket. That's the foreigner price. Nepalis ride for 700 and Indians for 800 rupees.

Since summer is not a popular time of year for tourists, because of the heat and rain, I was the only passenger there and got a whole cabin to myself. I settled in, ready to enjoy some stunning views but the sun immediately disappeared behind a dark cloud.

A few minutes into the journey and the heavens opened up. A huge thunderstorm.

When I got to Sarangkot I tried to wait it out, hoping the weather would clear up, but it never did. I wasn't prepared for rain, with no raincoat or umbrella. Even if I was prepared it wouldn't have been much fun to walk around the village in that weather.

I abandoned the adventure and took the cable car back down into Pokhara. Thankfully I did that because the thunderstorm continued through the night.

The next day I tried again. This time heading up a bit earlier. It seems to rain every day in Pokhara but usually it's in the late afternoon. Thankfully the weather was glorious and the views from the cable car going up were stunning.

I saw many people paragliding around the valley. It looked like so much fun and something I'd want to do.

After having a good explore around the village, and reaching the viewpoint for the best panoramic view of Pokhara, I went in search of the paragliders. I could see from the viewpoint the slope where they were all taking off from, so I headed down to there.

Fortunately there was a pilot available to take me immediately. The cost was 3,500 rupees ($28 USD), which is really good value for such an activity. I had just asked a guesthouse owner how much it would cost and he said he could book it for me for about 6,500 rupees. So by turning up to the paragliding "airport" myself and cutting out any agent I got it for half the price.

The cost to use one of their GoPro cameras was 1,500 rupees but since I brought my own I didn't have to pay that. They were good enough to let me borrow the stick from their GoPro that could be hooked up to my harness, so I couldn't drop it.

Taking off was a little bit scary but once in the air it was a very relaxing adventure. My pilot, Nitesh, has paraglided thousands of times so I was in safe hands.

He said they also have a paragliding school, so that anyone who wants to spend a couple of weeks learning can do so and obtain a license to fly solo.

It was a fun adventure and I got back to the lakeside in time to enjoy a sunset stroll, with fresh fruit juice and kulfi from the local vendors.

0:00 Intro
3:12 Annapurna Cable Car
8:53 Next Day
10:17 Sarangkot Viewpoint
17:17 Paragliding Airport
24:54 Paragliding
39:40 Mango Juice
43:39 Saffron Kulfi

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