Scouting Bir Billing Before the Crowds Return
Bir Billing, Himachal Pradesh
15 September 2025
“The first time I saw Bir from above the paragliding landing site, I sat down on a rock and didn't move for an hour. It wasn't the view — I'd seen bigger mountains. It was the silence. A valley full of monasteries and tea gardens where nobody was trying to sell me anything. I called my mother that evening and told her I'd found the place I wanted to build my first trip around. She asked if I'd eaten dinner. I hadn't.”
— Uddip
I arrived in Bir on a Tuesday morning in September. The monsoon was fading. The landing site was empty.
The Tibetan colony in Bir is the real anchor of this place. Chokling Monastery sits above the town.
But the real discovery was Barot Valley. An hour's drive east of Bir, through a forest road that barely appears on Google Maps.
Rajgundha is a meadow at 2,440m, about 10km from Barot on foot. I camped here for two nights. This is the kind of place Before Maps exists for.