Pokhara: Pokhara, one of the five top most paragliding destinations of the world is being popular day by day. Sarangkot, Khapaudi and Pame area of Pokhara is being lively due to this adventure sport. According to entrepreneur Mr. Basanta Raj Dawadi, most of the paragliding lovers are Chinese. According to Dawadi some 300 tourists enjoy paragliding in Pokhara daily and sometime visitors have to wait their turn for paragliding because of their high numbers during peak season.
As there are operating around 45 registered paragliding companies in Pokhara, the sky of Sarangkot is being felt congested. There are more than 103 registered Nepalese paragliding pilots working in Pokhara. Only one visitor can enjoy paragliding at a time with a pilot, which is known as tandem flight. September, October and November are best season for this adventure. But as Nepal suffered from massive earthquake in April 12 in last year, the number of tourist arrival of Pokhara has gone down in recent months in compare to the same time of previous years.
According to Mr. Rajesh Bomjon, who claims himself as a first paragliding pilot of Nepal and is a former president of Nepal Air Sports Association (NAA), this paragliding has doing good business in recent years. Rajes’s father Biru and his English partner Mr. Adam Hill had brought this adventure sports in Pokhara in 1990. In recent years, this sport is popular among the visitors and they can fly in the sky as like a bird without any fueled engine.
Para-pilots and their passengers start paragliding mostly from the hill of Sarangkot (around 1500 meters) and landed at the beach of Phewa Lake. Para-pilots also enjoyed paragliding very much in this beautiful Pokhara since long Annapurna mountain range, Phewa, Lake, serpentine Seti River and greenery can be observed during the flight, informed NAA chairman Yogesh Bhattarai.
Pokhara is not only the gateway to world famous Annapurna Region but also is a destination of adventure tourism. Paraglding is helping to promote the tourism of Pokhara in an international market and to extend the days of stay of visitors. Pokhara, which is also a touristy town of Nepal, welcomes some 0.6 million tourists annually. Picture: Sunrise Paragliding Pvt.Ltd.
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