Paragliding in Indien

Fascinating India welcomes the flying community with smooth soarings and thermallings during its dry season from October until March, followed by stronger flying conditions before the monsoon starts in June.

Nevertheless there are two flying areas which have a different weather pattern. The first one is in Northern India at the foot of the Himalaya, mainly around Bir Billing, where the weather can be quite cold and stable during most part of this time.

The other areas are stretching along the subcontinental divide, the Western Ghats, situated in the Southwest between Mumbai (Bombay) and Trivandrum, 2000 km straight distance further south. Our selected places extend from Kamshet near Mumbai down to Goa.

Best time to get around and have both nice thermalling and a chance for XC flights is January, February and March.

Euro 1300

Schliessen

Termine: 12. - 26.1.2012

Our tour starts with the pickup at Mumbai airport. Across dense and busy traffic we sort out our way downsouth towards Pune. Getting to Kamshet takes about two hours by vehicle. Away from the main roads and the noisy, bustling life we soon find ourselves amidst a beautiful and peaceful setting at Golden Glades where we reach the base for our first Flying experience at the Lodge of Nirvana Paragliding above the shore of a lake and surrounded by flyable hills and Table Mountains. This is our place for Day 1 to Day 5.

We enjoy the garden and magnificent views and the hospitality of this guesthouse and we'll meet other pilots from different countries.
During the stay at Nirvana we are on full board and while flying the kitchen staff will be busy with cooking all sorts of Indian specialties!

After breakfast we have the usual briefings and get transport to the choosen destinations such as Tower Hill or Shelar. The later is a magic spot for sunset flying while Tower Hill is an excellent training ground into two different directions plus provides a good base for Cross country flights! We can also visit Uksan Hill, the closest take off from Golden Glades, but it requires half an hour of walking.

On day 5 we get our transfer to the main highway and, passing Pune, we reach the Western Ghats crossing a saddle. Here the road turns off and climbs up to our new destination, the village of Panchgani, situated on a Table Mountain, just below of the top. On a terrace of its southern flank we find our accommodation, André's Ecocamp, after 3 hrs of driving. André, the friendly Canadian owner and himself a paraglider pilot, is a very competent and helpful person and will drive us to the different launches.
The Ecocamp itself is a quite unusual place. A mere campsite at first glance it provides either well equipped beds in big open tents in a dormitory style or, if needed, limited double rooms in a nearby brick house.
We enjoy the market town of Panchgani and the different take offs such as Harrison's Folly where you launch at sunset with a mild breeze below of the town and land above it on the flat table top, just to walk back for 10 minutes to get to dinner in downtown!
Day 5 to 8 is dedicated to Panchgani and surroundings.
Day 9 is our transfer day to Goa and it is a long journey. But it is never boring in this exotic environment. In our case we use the train and reach Goa on Day,10, in the morning!
Day 10: Transfer to Arambol, our beachsite and Flying place where we spent the remaining time. The take off is a 25 minutes walk from our guest house on the beach! Funflying and Relax!
Day 13, transfer to Goa Airport, evening flight to Mumbai.
Day 14, return (international) from Mumbai airport.

Whilst every effort is made to keep to the above itinerary, this is adventure travel in a mountain region. It is likely that there will be changes in the itinerary in terms of anything from the exact hotel used to the villages we may stop in for the night. Weather conditions, road conditions, vehicle breakdowns can all contribute to changes.