Who doesn’t like a beautiful vacation to the mountains during a hot summer in the rest of the subcontinent? However, to find such a suitable place that provides you with the perfect blend of nature, comfort, thrilling activities, and an exciting trek with a pocket-friendly budget is sometimes rare. However, the place that we are going to know about today is exactly the kind that ticks all these boxes:
Bir Billing.
Bir billing is a lovely Himachal Pradesh town. This is a rural village that is situated to the west of Joginder Nagar Valley in Himachal Pradesh. The village is near Dharamshala, a well-known place in Himachal. Lying in the cradle of the Himalayas, the village of Bir is just magnificent and a feast to the eyes.
Covered with dense forest, a cool climate, mountains in sight, kind people of Himachal, and a perfect getaway, the Bir Billing trek is not just perfect for regular trekkers but is also ideal for first-time trekkers and families seeking a place for vacations. Not just that, it is also a large settlement for Tibetans and is also called Bir Tibetan Colony and as a result, has a large number of beautiful Buddhist monasteries, thus also providing solace to souls searching for an answer.
The Bir village is the administrative subdivision of Baijnath, in the Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh. However, the nearest railway station in Bir is the Ahju station which is a narrow-gauge line that runs between Pathankot in Kashmir to Jogindernagar via Kangra.
Accessibility to Bir is also very favorable as it is at a 70 km distance from the beautiful towns of Dharamshala and Mcleodganj. Billing is situated to the north of Bir at a distance of around 14kms and is often considered the gateway to Thamsar Pass Trek.
Coming to the activities:
Bir Billing is famous for various reasons one of the most prominent of which is Paragliding. Paragliding activities in Bir Billing are world-famous. People across many nations and states in India travel to this place in the winters and summers to enjoy the beautiful and encapsulating experience of paragliding in the beautiful valley.
The paragliding activities became even more famous after the first Paragliding world cup of India in 2015 where numerous paragliders or paragliding pilots as they are more often called, participated in the tournament to showcase their skills.
This event did not just become a center of attraction then but also paved the way for an enhanced interest for people in paragliding and other such sports. This also resulted in a boom in tourism as a large number of people now go to Bir Billing to experience this thrilling activity.
Not just paragliding, Bir Billing also provides a lot of other such activities that can be enjoyed by people from all age groups. These activities mostly include trekking, mountain biking, angling, and camping.
Trek of Bir Billing:
The trek of Billing is around 14kms that passes from the Thamsar Pass trek, through the Himachali Tribal villages, enjoying the view and lush green scenery. The Billing to Rajgundha trek situated at the foot of the Dhauladhar mountains is as much beautiful as the earlier with beautiful waterfalls, trees, beautiful valleys, and a beautiful night sky.
Bir Billing also offers a variety of ranges for mountain biking. The mountain biking experience takes a person to even a greater height. While the Bir Billing trek stands at a height of around 5000 ft from sea level, the mountain biking reaches up to a height of almost 9000 ft from sea level.
The mountain biking route is mostly through Palampur to Bir Billing providing a beautiful journey of the valley through the rocky mountains witnessing the enormous beauty of the valley and the kindness and hospitality of the people along the journey. There are multiple routes for the biking trip, each providing its slice of the tribal life and natural surrealness of the valley.
One can also experience the thrill and excitement in Bir Billing by taking part in angling and camping. The Barot valley, a 13km trek from Bir is famous for its angling(fishing) the valley. Also, camping is an undetachable part of the Bir Billing tour.
Camping in tents with bonfires and friends just couldn’t be better. While there are numerous staying options in Bir Billing, camping in tents while the entire trek is best of all. Different types of tents like camp tents, machan tents, etc are provided for a comfortable stay for all trekkers.
There are mainly three routes to Bir Billing:
Delhi to Bir Billing via Chandigarh and Kangra; Mcleodganj to Bir via Dharamshala and another route from Manali to Bir via Jogindernagar.
Bir Billing is one of the best places in India if you want to get away from your monotonous and stressful life. The snowfall, multiple activities like paragliding, trekking, etc, the beautiful valley, the kind-hearted and simple people, and a long untiring journey filled with enthusiasm and fervor make it the best moderately long vacation one can demand in today’s fast and stressful life.
