The grass on the hill looked worn and a sign stated “forbidden for beginners and not for teaching purposes”. Yet there I was, beginner by any means, nerves surprisingly well under control. The sky was steel blue, a couple of clouds but visibility would be great. “Are you Stephen?” asked the Nepali instructor in broken English? We exchanged some generalities, after which he made sure my safety harness was well tightened. “If I say WALK, you walk, if I say RUN, you run, ok?” He hooked my harness up to his, did some magic trick to lift the parachute from the ground, and then yelled “go!” After some initial confusion about whether “go” meant “walk” or “run”, I got his point, started running and a couple of seconds later, we were floating in the air. I took in the magnificent scenery: below me, Pokhara’s Fewa lake; at eye level, an amazing view of the Himalayas. A couple of minutes later, the instructor made some whirling acrobatics, and before I knew it, I was back on solid ground.
How to find a good paragliding company in Pokhara? There's tons of paragliding companies lining Lakeside, and you can just go and have a chat with them. Alledgedly, it would be best if your paraglide started from the Sarangkot location, so ask them where they start from. Also, enquire about the number of years of experience of the instructor that will accompany you (it is of not much use to know that most of the instructors have 12 years of experience, if the one accompanying you started yesterday...). I also suggest to ask about their insurance in case of accident (even better: make sure your own travel insurance covers you - paragliding is a high risk sport, so not all travel insurances will cover it by default!). If you have any physical problems, do tell the paragliding company about it: I had a lot of pain in my knees at the time, so they gave me an ace instructor who was able to land very softly!
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