I Flew a Plane: Ultralighting in Pokhara, Nepal
#ultralight #pokhara #himalayas
My final day in Pokhara, Nepal and it's another activity in the air. I was keen to see what the best thing to do in Pokhara was, specifically in the air. You can hot air balloon, ultralight or paraglide, though because of the new airport and slow permits, there wasn't any paragliding on offer when I was there.
First things first, ultra lighting in Pokhara is by far the most expensive option. I had originally planned on a 30 minute trip for $190 USD but had been shown some footage of inside the Annapurna range, plus I'd woken up and the weather was incredible, so I pulled the trigger on 60 minutes for $310 USD. Not cheap.
Most of the shorter 15 minute trips ($120) are in a hang glider style ultralight which, although that would be something new, it wasn't an option for 60 minutes (mainly because it's too slow and too cold). As such, we went in the smallest plane I've ever been in.
I also got to fly the plane for about 5-10 minutes which was a big bonus. I'd never flown a plane before so that was certainly part of the attraction.
As you'll see from the video, I hadn't done by research properly. It's only the 90 minute trip (which costs over $400 USD) that actually goes into the Annapurna range and towards base camp. Instead, whilst we did go 'into' the range to see a pretty spectacular portion of it, the majority of the flight was on the same side that I had been staring at for the past week.
I really enjoyed the flight, especially when we went into the range for a short period and obviously when I got to fly. However, it's just the cost that means that I can't recommend it. It's over pretty quickly and I felt like I had burnt over $300 USD before 9.30am!
If I had the option to paraglide whilst I was there, I definitely would have picked it over ultra lighting. In fact, I could have probably done a whole paragliding course for the price of a short ultralight flight. Plus, I enjoyed the hot air balloon more and that's the same price as a 15 minute ultralight flight.
It sucks because I did enjoy the flight.....maybe I just need to stop being cheap, but I also think that a lot of other people will find this to be a very expensive activity for what it actually is.
0:00 - Cost of ultra lighting
1:48 - Hang glider
2:14 - Taking Off
2:57 - Flying into the Annapurna Mountain Range
4:32 - Flying a plane for the first time
6:10 - Is ultra lighting in Pokhara worth it?
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