I woke up early the next day to see the golden mountains as the sun rose from behind. It was sheer magic. The birds were singing, the sky was turning into a beautiful canvas and it seemed as if the entire universe was dancing at that very moment. I felt great, as if my superpowers were back, smiled and felt the happiness within. I stepped out, had my morning chai and wandered around as the little village woke up and started bustling again. I rented a bicycle for 2 days and decided to explore it a little deeper.

As I rode places on my bicycle, I ventured into plenty of unknown trails on my own, made friends with locals, and had tons of interesting conversations with people sharing travel stories, life, spirituality and random things. Bir had gradually started growing on me and I kept extending my stay day after day. I was falling in love with this little village and its people. I started making my own comfort place and connected with my soul tribe. The two days stay in Bir ended up into a much longer stay and I promised myself to return again with the idea to live here someday.

Here are some of thing things and places I enjoyed while I stayed in Bir for a little under two weeks.

Exploring Cafes

Bir has some of the cutest cafes owned by some of the most amazing people I met while travelling. They not only serve great food that feeds your soul but also make sure that you make memories for a lifetime. My favourites were June 16 Cafe, Silver Lining, Parvatah and The Northern Cafe. I would literally start every day with Hot Lemon Honey Ginger Tea on June 16, spend most of the day at Silver Lining feasting on banoffee pie and later trek to Northern Cafe for picture-perfect sunset. Parvatah is a beautiful homestay cum cafe in Upper Bir and used to be my perfect place to read and write. There was another beautiful place called Busybees Temptations in upper Bir but somehow I never managed to go there.

There were plenty of more amazing cafes worth exploring in Bir but I decided to settle with these while I did nothing.

Deer Park Institute

This is where I will be staying next time I am there in Bir. It is a centre of study for classical Buddhist tradition with various programmes being organised by them for meditation, philosophy, yoga, healing arts, Buddhism, art and culture. I was initially staying right behind Deer Park and would step into the institute every now and then to sit and read. The place has beautiful vibes with a sense of peace and calmness which instantly pulls you. If anyone is heading to Bir for a long stay of more than a week, this place offers them rooms and dormitories for a stay.

Bir is a tiny village nestled deep in Himachal popularly known as the paragliding capital of India. Besides paragliding, the place is splurged with monasteries, cultural centres, cute cafes, homestays, tea gardens, beautiful trails to walk on, camping spots and mystical nature in abundance. You can even feel the high influence of Tibetan culture on the lifestyle of locals everywhere.

Cycling around Bir

People who know me would know how much I love cycling and how enjoy exploring a place on a bicycle. It is like exploring the place in slow motion, connecting with people and their life, understanding local culture and traditions, and going a bit deeper than one would do otherwise. I rented a bicycle on the very first day and explored many trails, monasteries, sunsets and villages. One thing that I loved the most was people loved to stop me and make random conversation while I rode. I have never experienced this in such abundance before.

Some of my favourite trails were on Chaugan Sansal road and in Upper Bir. My ride to Sherab Ling Monastery was sheer magic and my little conversation with the monks made it even more special.

It is very easy to find a bike rental shop in Bir and they would usually charge anything between Rs. 500 - Rs. 600 for a day.

Visit Mushroom Farm & Paragliding

I happened to meet a cyclist friend of mine who had moved to Bir and lived here with his wife. He is currently farming mushrooms and visiting the farm was an experience in itself. I was fascinated with the entire process of growing mushrooms organically, their passion and how the farm was designed in a way that it can be managed by just one person. I would definitely like to work on this farm and learn more next time I am there in Bir.

Amit & Menu are a fun couple and their stories are inspiring. They once decided to go on a long walk and ended up walking from Bir to Leh through mountains crossing passes, forests and rivers. I rode this route on my bicycle but walking through trails is the next level for sure.

Amit is also a professional paraglider and runs a company called BeOutdoors. They have curated some really beautiful treks, bike trips and paragliding activities worth experiencing. From flying with one of the best pilots to doing a spiral dive in the air, my experience was nothing less than magic.

Bir was a big surprise for me, met some beautiful souls I literally fell in love with, and learned a lot about minimalistic life, spirituality and more. This place now has a place in my heart forever.