I’m writing this post from Delhi, India, which is a sweltering 105 F.
It’s funny to think I was in cold Himalaya air just a couple days ago.
I went on an Utralight flight tour of the Annapurna mountain range
above Pokahara, Nepal.  This is the coolest machine, I really want
one.  It’s basically a hang-glider with tandem seats, 3 wheels and a
propeller.  As a passenger, you sit right behind the pilot strapped
into a small seat with nothing but open space on either side.  It is
really gives you the ultimate sense of flying.I couldn’t believe how fast we got off the ground in a thing that
sounds like a lawnmower.  This little thing only has a 100 horsepower,
so it needs to circle to gain elevation which is controlled by the
hang-glider bar, not a stick. When up to altitude, the pilot can lower
the throttle and glide.Pokhara
is in a hot and humid climate, it was interesting feeling ourselves
travel through the several temperate zones as we climbed in elevation.
By the time we were right next to the towering Himalayas, I was glad to
have on ski pants and a parka.  The view was incredible!It’s possible to look straight down below and nearly 360 degrees
around.  We flew up and over the lush jungles and the foothills and
then along the Annapurna Range, which took a little over an hour.  This
same route take trekkers 14 days.  After we flew alongside the
mountains, we circled back to fly over the lake and a Buddhist temple
before landing at the airport.  Even if you plan on trekking the
Annapurna circuit, don’t pass up the incredible experience of getting a
bird’s eye view.
<.jpg.jpgimg class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e54fa8abf78833013480968b8e970c image-full " style="border: 3px solid black;" title="Buddhist teple view from ultralight. Pokhara, Nepal" src="https:///www.theworldeffect.com/images/6a00e54fa8abf78833013480968b8e970c-800wi.jpg" border="0" alt="Buddhist teple view from ultralight. Pokhara, Nepal" />
<.jpg.jpgimg class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e54fa8abf78833013480968cf5970c image-full " style="border: 3px solid black;" title="Ultralight flight, boats below. Pokhara, Nepal." src="https:///www.theworldeffect.com/images/6a00e54fa8abf78833013480968cf5970c-800wi.jpg" border="0" alt="Ultralight flight, boats below. Pokhara, Nepal." />
I have a video ready for this, but due to the brown-outs, I’m having
issues uploading it.  It’s nothing too special, but it gives you a good
idea of what take off and landing in an ultralight is like.  I will let
you all know when I can manage to get the video up in the video tab,
stay tuned.
UPDATE:  The video is now up on our Video Tab above.  Please excuse the video quality, something happened during the upload.