Namaste India

In Hindi the word Namaste essentially means hello and goodbye. However, literally it means I bow to you (Nama=bow, te=you). It is with this word that I now bid farewell to the place I have spent the past 10 months. I will not lie and tell you that every moment has been spectacular, there has been moments of sheer wonder and moments of utter boredom. Regardless, I leave this place a changed man, India has a way of doing that to you. However, I am very excited to get home. There is a quote by T.S.Elliot that I think is rather appropriate for this situation, "We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time." This is what I am looking forward to.
Friday morning I board a plane for Singapore, then on to Bali for 3 weeks of relaxation, my brother's wedding and family time. Stay tuned for Bali stories.

GHARD WARE - Here it comes!!!

High in the Himalayan foothills lies the sleepy town of Landour. It is here that the beginnings of an amazing clothing concept was begun. GHARDWARE, a rugged, stylish, functional line of hard working wool clothing. Equally at home in the woodlot, construction site, around the campfire, on a rainy fall day, or around town. Your GHARDWARE was designed, tested and handmade in the Himalayas...

Sounds like a commercial doesn't it, well guess what it is. I have decided to try and launch my own line of awesome wool clothes, that are all of what is mentioned above but so much more. Tailor services in India are cheap and highly skilled, it is for this reason that I began playing with different designs for work and play. What I have come up with so far is two amazing pieces of clothing that I feel are too good to not try and market in the US. I just know if I only bring home the few pairs I had made for myself, tons of people would come up to me and say, "Hey, where did you get those awesome pants?" And I would have to kick myself for not trying to market them. So to keep my ass from getting kicked I decided to go for it!! What do I have to lose? So I am importing 100 or so pieces to see if I can stir up some interest. I am starting my line with a nice pair of wool work pant, that blow Carharts away. Both lined and un-lined. The flagship piece of my line is a sick two-toned wool hoodie sweatshirt that features, windproof nylon lining, reinforced shoulders, longer tail hem to cover that plumbers crack, pitzips, thumb holes at the cuff and a few trick pockets. If these pieces take off I have plenty more designs to drop. Stay tuned for pictures. Pre-orders will be accepted.

Hoodie action pose

Hoodie will also come in a great lightish blue and charcoal gray combo

Pants-will come in two diferent colors charcoal gray and the green on the hoodie.

Rockin' Rishikesh II

So I thought I would take a little weekend getaway to Rishikesh this weekend. Why not right? It is an easy 2 hours on the motorcycle along some great road. I went down there Friday night, Saturday I rented a kayak (Drago Rosi) and kayaked the Ganga between Shivpuri and Riskikesh. It was a nice little stretch. Exciting after not being in a kayak for 9 months. There was one big ol' rapid about like a medium/ large sized on on the Grand Canyon. Big waves. Now I can add another country to the list of places I have kayaked. Sorry no pictures, I didn't bring the camera, didn't feel like keeping up with it. Another reason I went was to do some souvenir shopping. Did some of that, went OK. Got some nice things. Anyway, that's it. It was nice to get away from here for a while.

Bir is Brilliant!!!

Mission accomplished!! I have just arrived home after an amazing, yet too short flying vacation in Bir/Billing. The drive was long but 14 hours in a bus goes by fast when you are excited and anticipate great things. I finally arrived in Bir at 6:00am after my bus/bus/taxi journey. Found my guesthouse and crashed for a couple of hours. Upon my return to relative lucidity, I met a few of the pilots I would be flying with. A few old schoolers named Jim, Andy and Bruce; these guys have been coming here for a while and were great sources of beta on the site. We hopped a taxi for the 45 minute, winding ride up to launch in a little place called Billing.



My flight the first day gave me a true taste of the greatness Bir produces in the form of large columns of hot, rising air we call thermals. They are everywhere, they are huge and they go up like a freight train. I toured the area to get the lay of the land and then the lack of sleep caught up with me, I was done, it was time to land.

Saturday turned out to be a tricky day. I awoke to a cloudy sky, not conducive of creating those poppin' thermals of the day before. The funny thing is it switched back and forth between clouds and sun all day, as soon as it looked good it would close out with clouds again. But I had the itch to fly, I only had 3 days. I convinced a few Frenchies I met in Pokhara that we should do it. We cruised up in a taxi to find that 3/4 of the way old Mother Nature had something other than flying on her mind. Rain began to fall, when we arrived the rain turned to rain/sleet/snow/lighting/thunder. We where shut out. We tried to be patient over chai and conversation with a group of Hungarian pilots. But in the end the cold wind and muddy ground hastened our retreat.

Sunday, oh Sunday, what a funday. Easter turned out to be a day to remember. The beautiful thing about a sport like paragliding is it's a sport of firsts and personal records. On Sunday it was time to head back Mussoorie way, but not without taking advantage of the wonderful day that it was promising to be. One thing I did know was that I needed to be on a bus by evening to make it back at a reasonable hour Monday. I had a few options but the best one was a luxury bus leaving Dharamsala at 5:30 pm. So I needed to get to D'Sala. I thought to myself why take a 3hour, uncomfortable local bus ride there when the possibilities of flying the 50 or so kilometers there was a definite possibility on a day like this. I motioned my plans to my new found flying friends and they thought is was a great idea. So we headed up, I loaded and launched about noon. The conditions this day would not let me down (literally) once. The mountains here are not only beautiful, snowcapped and high; but hey are perfectly suited for flying. The views of, glaciers, snowfields, and peaks enveloped in billowing white couds are beyond description. Hindu and Buddhist temples dot many of the thermal producing apexes along the beautiful ridgelines. The scenery was outstanding. I climbed out and started making my transitions from ridge to ridge. Tanking up on altitude where it was possible and gliding to the next ridge. Upon reaching a larger prominent ridge called the Big Face I ran into the only sticky spot all flight. I had flown too far back into a large bowl, but to get around the Big Face I needed to be further into the valley. As I tried to penetrate further out the winds got a little tricky and started to get turbulent and a bit sinky. I wasn't worried yet, but it wasn't the greatest situation. However, before things got critical I started a nice powerful climb back up to 10,000 feet, well above the Big Face. After this is was a pretty easy flight. Thermal up to 10,000 feet and transition to the next ridge. Hopping ridge to ridge all the way to Dharamsala 50 km away. It was cold up there and my hands were frozen, that is why there is such a lack of pictures, I couldn't feel the camera. What a flight, a first in many regards. Here are some picks after I got feeling back in my hands.





I landed in a small fair grounds in lower Dharamsala at 2:30 pm. There was a small fair going on where I landed and amazed Indian tourists poured out of the tents to take a look at this white guy that just fell out of the sky. Lots of questions, lots of pictures, too much trampling on my glider lines, and I was packed up eating a nice Rajasthani lunch, like the guest of honor.


Thanks for listening to my long winded and maybe slightly confusing tale of the best flight I have experienced in my short flying career, I can't wait for more just like it.

Flying Buddhist Land

Finally something to be excited about, the long awaited and much needed quarter break. Here at Woodstock they think that 4 days in long enough of a break between the quarters. I tend to disagree but I don't make those decisions, I just have to live with them. So I am going on what could be an epic journey. Destination Bir (pronounced beer)one of the best paragliding sites in the world this time of the year. Also a place that I told myself I HAD to go to while in India. The 4 days thing is kinda a bummer because it is a 12 hour overnight bus ride to get there and back. Seriously cutting into my vacation/flying time, but I have to do it. Bir is in a place called Himachel Pradesh, directly to the west of Uttarkhand (the state I live in). One cool thing about flying there is that it is 45 km as the crow (or paraglider) flies to Dharamsala the exiled seat of the Tibetan government and the home of the Dali Lama since 1959. I have heard on a good day it is an easy flight to Dharamsala and people fly their paragliders there regularly and land in town to spend the night, I'm going to give it a try. Here is an excellent article about flying in Bir by another pilot named Jeff Cristol, if you have some spare time give it a read, good stuff.

http://www.adventuretourproductions.com/articles/indianorth.htm

Ok that is all for now, I will be back in a week with stories.

Blogworthy

I am writing to express my regrets for not having a recent blog entry. The last thing I want to do is lose my precious audience. However, blogworthy occurrences on the hillside have been less then plentiful as of late. Truthfully, they have been non-existent. This is not to say I am not enjoying myself as much as possible. I guess winter break stories are just a hard act to follow.


Here is a picture that I forgot to put in my Nepal post. This is my porter Rama, nice guy, we really hit it off the night we arrived and on the trek. After one of our rest stops he takes his jacket off to revel this sweet Tony Kukoc Chicago Bulls throwback jersey. I told him that I was from Chicago and a Bulls fan. My porter Rama's reppin' Chi-Town!!! I just thought it was ironic that my porter in the Annapurna region of Nepal was wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey. Of course I had to take a picture.

Anyway, I am going for a motorcycle ride today I will bring my camera along in case anything good happens. Hope all is well.

Video Clip from New Years Paratrekking

So my buddy Pete just put up a sweet video about our New Years paratrekking trip up Kourchon in the Annapurna Range of Nepal. That blue and yellow glider that you can see for a few seconds as Pete pans around is me. Great memories, and a great way to spend the first day of a new year, free as a bird (literally). Take a look, I hope you enjoy it a fraction of how much I enjoyed it.



Here is the YouTube link in case you want to see it a little better. http://youtube.com/watch?v=5qud0uWByZQ

Enjoy!

Indian Roadtrip - Subtitle: Torture on Two Wheels

Have you ever seen the movie Road Warrior where Mad Max (Mel Gibson) is running for his life from a band of deranged, manics in all sorts of crazy vehicles? Well add to that nostril filling dust, unchecked diesel fumes, ox carts loaded to the brink with sugar cane, monkeys, insane bus drivers, dogs, cows, bicyclists, bad road conditions... and you have yourself an Indian road trip. Truthfully, I am sensationalizing a bit but the riding a motorcycle on Indian roads is not for the faint of heart.

I arrived in Delhi from a marvelous paragliding trip to Nepal with the intention of jumping on the Enfield and riding to the other end of Rajasthan, far into the Thar Desert. My reality was shattered when the local Enfeild dealer told me I needed a new piston for my bike. I was obviously disappointed about the potential delay and expensive bill. In the end this slight delay and 2000 rups ($50) turned into a hidden blessing, more about that later. After spending 3 nights sleeping on my pilot brother Shubang's floor (thanks Merlin and Nina) I was off. The ride from Noida (suburban Delhi) to Jaipur is about 270 km, well that is if you don't get lost trying to find your way. I finally found my way out of Delhi and onto the newly paved Delhi-Jaipur Road. It was essentially smooth sailing the whole way. I say essentially because there are degrees of smooth sailing that you can experience, this was the Indian version of smooth sailing. Still plenty of dirt, crazy towns, animals and the like.

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. A city filled with a rich history that dates back hundreds of years. It was the stronghold of many Maharajas, this is evident from the many forts, walled cities and heavily guarded palaces spread throughout the city. I am not much of a history buff but it was very interesting exploring the old forts and palaces. It is amazing all of these fortifications were built to keep a few noble men and women safe. Impressive to say the least.

Enfield on the sweetest road I rode (:p) this whole trip. On top of a mesa beween Tiger Fort and Amber Fort.

Self Portrait- Amber Fort, overlooking Amber Palace and town

Originally my plan was to ride deep into the desert to a place called Jaislmer. It would have been amazing to see all of the history and amazing towns along the way. However, the time I lost in Delhi did not allow me to make it that far. I still had a few days to spare so I thought I would swing by Agra and see the famous Taj Mahal on my way home. I know what you are thinking, awww so cliche the Taj. Every tourist sees the Taj when in India. When you visit certain places you have to see certain things; when you do to Rome you have to see the Colosseum, when you go to Greece you have to see the Parthenon, when you go to NYC you have to see the Statue of Liberty, well guess what when you go to India you have to see the Taj. On top of this because I am an Indian tax payer I pay the Indian price, a deal at 20 rupees ($.50). I went with a friend from England, guess how much she paid, 750 rups, just short of $20. Not a bad deal huh? Anyway, so me and thousands of my closest friends got to see the Taj Mahal that day. It is truthfully quite stunning. An amazing display of one man's love for his departed wife.

There it is, picture don't come close

The rest of the trip was a two day ride back to Mussoorie. Reasonably uneventful by Indian standards. A weird thing happened as I near Dehra Dun. I was riding over the Sawalik Mountain Range, a small range of hills on the opposite end of the valley from Mussoorie. As I crested the hill and started down into the Doon Valley I noticed a few things that made me slow down and smile. It was like I was in a different place. The air was noticeably cleaner, the road had gotten nice, the light filtering through the towering stand of pine trees had a warm welcoming glow to it; it made me smile deeply. I was home, I could see Mussoorie across the valley way up in the hills, an hour later I rolled into my house. I had survived.

More about this blessing in disguise. All told I had ridden the bike about 1500 km on whats called the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra). My intentions were to ride significantly farther into Rajasthan, almost doubling that figure. By the time I had arrived home after the 1500 km, I was dirty, tired, sick, dehydrated, brain fried from a constant state of alertness on the road... If I had to double that amount of riding in only a few more days, I would have been a shell of a man. So, while I did not get to see some of the amazing sight I wanted to, I saved my sanity and health by taking the abbreviated route. The rest of it will have to wait until next time, hopefully with a riding partner, it would make it much more enjoyable to have someone to ride with.

Pictures to come, having technical difficulties with my computer at the moment, patience please. Oh yea, don't forget!! I love when you leave comments!!

Happy New Years - Back in Katmandu-Updated

Hello all, sorry for the lack of posts and pictures. The Internet in Pokhara was painfully slow, it was all I could do to check my mail and send out a few. I am back in Katmandu after 2.5 weeks of wonderful times flying in Pokhara. I fly to India tomorrow afternoon to a whole new setting, he sands of the Thar Desert. I am not sure I am ready to return to the chaos and dirt of India after my peaceful lakeside stay in Nepal. I will miss Nepal, it is an amazing place. I will return someday, hopefully with someone special to share it with next time. The people, places, sights, sounds and smells are hard to describe in words. I will try to sign on tomorrow and post a few picts of my trip, the net in Katmandu is much faster.

Driving into Pokhara was almost worth the 5 hour bumpy busride from Katmandu. For the last 20 km you drive straight at the amazing Annapurna Range. Numerous 25,000'+ snowcapped peaks, the most impressive is Machhupuchare, a Matterhorn like peak standing directly in the middle.

Awful picture from the bus windsheild of the Annapurna Range. I promise, the view was amazing.

My actual arrival in Pokhara was about how I expected it. After fighting through the crowd of touts, cabbies and hotel reps trying to get my business. I made my way to Lakeside (Where all of the paraglider pilots hangout) to see the one person, my friend Anita, I knew in town landing by the lake LZ. I hung out with Anita and Alex for a while then got introduced to the crew I would be hanging out with for the next 2.5 weeks. A bunch of great people/pilots from the UK, Spain, Australia, Iceland, France, Czech Rep. you name it. For the next 2.5 weeks it was like the movie Groundhogs Day wake up, eat breakfast, fly a few times, relax, eat dinner and drink beer, repeat. Not a bad vacation. Flying conditions were not all that great but it was still a good time. On New Years Eve we took a short trek up a near by 3200 meter peak and flew off New Years morning. It was a great way to ring in the New Year. It was a pretty spontaneous mission where about 9 of us just decided to head up there. It was one of those trips that just totally fell into place and turned out perfectly. We hired 3 taxis to take us as far as they could before the road went to shit. We then hopped into a jeep for the rest of the ride. The jeep took us as far as the village of Machhupuchare, it just so happened they were having a small festival in this village and our arrival was perfectly timed for dinner. We arrived in the city center like celebrties, everyone shaking our hands and asking our names. They had a special welcoming ceremony for us and everything. After dinner, drinks of the local hooch, dancing and other party favors we retired to the villagers homes to spend the night. In the morning Machhupuchare peak(a.k.a the Fishtail, which the village takes it's name from) was beautifully illuminated in the morning light. We began our trek early, with hired porters from the village. The hike was challenging but not too bad, the end result and our campsite was well worth the hike. Most of us soared for a while up top before heading out on glide to look for something better. One of our party reached 6100 meters ( about 20,000') ridge soaring the face of Machhupuchare. In case you didn't know that is huge.
Relaxing after the trek on top of Kourchon

There are 25,000' mountains under those clouds I promise

Here are some more pics from Nepal

Sunset on Annapurna V and Machhupuchare from evening camp New Years Eve

Alex hiking to Blue Sky launch

Katmandu temple in the early morning light

Main stupa at the Monkey Temple, Katmandu