Blanc - Three Days in Nepal

N othing compares with the feeling of flight. I dont mean sitting in an airplane, but flying on your own, by your own powerfeeling flight to your very core, piloting with your muscles and reflexes, your body airborne like a bird.

When I was about ten years old, I had a dream. All I had to do was to push with my legs, hold out my arms, and I would take off like Superman. I would soar over houses, skim over fields and roads and circle through the air like a bird. When I woke up, I felt like I had really flown.

As soon as I could afford to, I took flying lessons. I joined a flying club. I was taught the theory of piloting and how to take off in little airplanes. But I never rediscovered the feeling of my childhood dream. Planes are practical for getting from point A to point B, from one airport to another, but apart from takeoff and landing, you dont really feel like youre flying.

Much later, I discovered powered paragliding. It involves wearing a strange machine with a motor and a propeller strapped to your back that turns your body into a plane. A giant wing that, when given some speed, lifts you into the air. An entire powered paraglider, or PPG, can be folded up into two bags that fit in the trunk of a car or can be checked as luggage.

The PPG is like a costume that turns you into a flying animal. You can fly low like a dragonfly or as high as an eagle, as slowly as a butterfly or as swiftly as a falcon. The very best pilots can touch down on a moving bus or land on an egg in the middle of a field.

Powered paragliding is not a very popular sport. It requires dedication, not to mention time and patience. You have to learn to watch the weather and read the clouds, know your motor inside and out, manipulate the wing and monitor the air that keeps it afloat. Only once youve mastered these skills does the sport yield its reward: the joy of flying wherever, whenever and however you want. The PPG is the most reliable aircraft in the worldas long as you remain humble.

Powered paragliding is also a great way to meet people from different walks of lifeit attracts people who are outgoing and adventurous and often both loners and team players at the same time. Its a mindset: the act of flying is in itself an individual act, but most people fly in groups. Ive met a number of lone wolves, of course, but most pilots would rather fly in the company of others, like a flock of birds.

Thats how I came to meet Franois, Efi, Adam and Laurent, pilots who have become my friends and with whom I often go on powered paragliding trips. A powered paragliding trip involves setting off to discover a new country with our machines in tow. Once we arrive, we meet other pilots, both local and foreign. The locals (who often organize the tours) serve as guides, showing us their country from the air. We usually go on two to three flights per day, very early in the morning or in the late afternoon and early evening, so that there is as little wind as possible.

I think it was Efi who first spoke to me about a January tour being organized in Nepal. When I told Franois about it, we decided to go together.

The tour had been arranged by a couple of Russian expats, flying enthusiasts who had lived in Pokhara for a long time. Pokhara is a town situated at the foot of the Himalayas and is a world-renowned base camp for trekkers and hippies alike. Natasha, her husband and their son, Stephan, had started a flying club there, giving tourists an opportunity to discover the exceptional Himalayan beauty of Mount Everest and Annapurna from the air.

Winter was the best time of year for flying, thanks to low winds and the lift provided by cold air.

The opportunity to discover Nepal in such ideal conditions was a dream come true.