Bir, Himachal Pradesh - My first abode in the Himalayas

Bir is a quaint little village in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, nestled in the Dhauladhar Range of the Himalayas. I had serendipitously landed at Bir and made it my home for 3 months. After quitting my job in Pune, all I had asked for was fresh air to breathe, fresh water to drink and fresh food to eat. After all, it's not just the job that I wanted to quit, I also wanted to leave the cities for a better life. God exists! 
I had found my “Nirvana Moments” in the mountains. I was addicted to the Himalayas. I always found reasons to run away to the Himalayas, even if it was just to catch a glimpse of snow-clad mountains on a weekend. The next thing for me was to experience living in the mountains, live like a local and not like a visitor. 
Bir holds a special place in my heart as it was my first move to living in the Himalayas. It was my first experience of living amongst the nature and close to humanity. I had a paradigm shift in my lifestyle after I moved to Bir. In this post, I would show you all the sides of Bir that I observed, learnt and enjoyed.

Bird's eye view of Bir, Himachal Pradesh. When I flew up in the air

​My home in Bir

I didn't know what to expect when I first landed in Bir. “Beautiful” is the word I exclaimed when I had my first glimpse at my rented home. A brick-red walled house in the green fields stood against the dense forest slopes of the mountain leading to Billing on the top.

My home in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The house was basic, with no modern design. But it had a terrace that opened up to the clear blue sky and the snow-covered peaks of Dhauladhar mountains. I was jealous of my neighbours who lived in the traditional Himachali houses in my neighbourhood.

View from my terrace in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

When I look up in the air from my terrace, I see colourful parachutes flying gracefully in the endless skies. I could spend hours observing them fly!

Paragliding in Bir, Himachal Pradesh, the view from my terrace

​Houses in Bir

The traditional Himachali houses add a colourful tinge to the surrounding greens, which makes the land of Himachal vibrant. 

Traditional Himachali houses in Bir

The houses are made of local stones, mud and wood and roofed with slates. The new houses are roofed with red metal due limited availability of slates in the state.

Traditional Himachali houses in Bir

Traditional Himachali houses in Bir

​My mornings in Bir

My mornings that used to begin with a frustrating drive on the traffic-jammed roads to office were replaced with refreshing routines everyday.
I woke up to foggy mornings which made the place look prettier and cleaner, the perfect mornings to have my ginger lemon honey teas.

Foggy mornings in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

I started exploring the place on foot after I settled in. The silent roads gave me ample space to enjoy my solitude in the serenity of Bir.

Buddhist prayer flags on roads in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The dry leaves made my way beautiful but tough for my hikes in the forested mountains. There were many trails in the mountains, going nowhere, but it gave me good options for my workout routines.

Hiking in the jungles in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

I fulfilled my long-pending wish of jogging in the mountains in fresh air. This is the time I interacted with lot of locals living in Bir. They all wanted to now where I was from, what I was doing in Bir, why was I running. Eventually the ladies in Bir had started sending their daughters with me to jog in the mountains.

Road to my home in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Flora in Bir

I had relocated to Bir on 27 Mar 2016. Spring is the best thing that happened to me in Bir. The snow from the tops had melted and the land looked vivacious in lush green . I saw different colours on the trees and plants during my 3 months of stay in Bir. Nature brings a lot of delight to my life.

Red bloom trees in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Purple jacaranda bloom trees in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Yellow jacaranda bloom trees in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Pink bloom in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Pink bloom on trees in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Fauna in Bir

I was always of the opinion that bird-watching was boring for me until Bir happened to me! How could I keep my eyes off the pretty creatures who paid regular visits to me near my home. I have now started chasing the colourful pretty birds everywhere in the mountains!

Red billed blue magpie in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Never before in my life had I seen geese guarding the house. These geese started screeching as I tried to go near a house next to the monastery.

Pet geese in a monastery in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

​Traffic jams in Bir

I was so relieved that I no more had to struggle with wasting my precious time in the cities stuck on the traffic-jammed and polluted roads. The only traffic jams where caused by the cute goats and I bet no one would ever complain of such pretty jams. It was quite an exciting sight!

The goats causing traffic jam in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

It was a delight to see the goats placing themselves strategically at places I didn’t expect them to be.

The goats in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The goats in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Local people in Bir

Apart from the local Himachalis, Bir is a home to many other races migrated from different parts. There is a considerable segment of Punjabis and Tibetans refugees living in Bir. Bir also hosts paragliders from different parts of the country and few people who have left cities for a quieter life in the mountains (like me).
The official language of Bir is Kangri (Himachali dialect) but the locals generally speak Pahadi - a mixture of Kangri and Punjabi.
The traditional dress for women in Himachal is Pattu, which they wear during special occasions. Though most women are seen wearing salwar kameez, the older ladies still wear the traditional dress regularly.

Pattu - traditional dress for women in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The Himachali men are mostly dressed in casual sherwani with a waistcoat in winters. The colourful Himachali cap is a mandatory accessory for the men.

Sherwani - traditional dress for men in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

There's a separate settlement for the Tibetan refugees called Tibetan colony. There are lot of monasteries in Bir and the local Tibetans regularly visit them during the prayer times. ​

Tibetan refugees in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The kid walks through the fields to go to her school.

The kid walks through the fields to go to her school in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The girls here didn't shy away from greeting me with "Good evening" or "Hello" whenever we crossed our paths.

Young girls in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The women are very used to going to work with their kids tied on their backs. The lady in the picture below was my domestic help in Bir.

My cook and domestic help in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

There are gypsies or nomadic tribes that move around in the jungles on the higher mountains. A lady had once come to my doorstep to sell Jungli Lingdi (Fiddleheads), organically grown vegetable which she collected from the mountain tops. She insisted me to buy it as it tastes good. It was cooked by my cook and it tasted really good and healthy.

Lingdi (Fiddleheads) organic vegetable in higher Himalayas. Gypsies in the Himalayas

A lot of monks live in Bir. There are institutes in Bir where kids are trained to Buddhist Monasticism.

The kid monks in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Occupation of people living in Bir

Agriculture and farming is the main occupation for most of the people living in Bir. The locals are generally self-dependant for all the basic necessities. They grow their own food, raise their own cattle for milk and meat and do all the domestic chores on the own.

Women working in fields in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Pesticides are used for most of the crops, but there are people who grow vegetables organically. My neighbours provided me with farm-fresh organic veggies when I needed them. It was the season for green peas then. Green peas is my favourite vegetable and I got most of my meals cooked with green peas in the entire 3 months. They tasted very sweet in the mountains and I would pluck and eat them straight from the farms.

Women plucking green peas from the fields in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The major crops are wheat, rice, barley and lentils. I had seen the wheat fields turn green to barren after the harvest during my stay in Bir.

Wheat harvest season in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Threshing machines come to the fields during the harvest season.

Threshing machine in fields for Wheat harvest season in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

As I entered Bir, I was welcomed with tea gardens on both the sides of the road. There is a tea factory in Bir. Women in Bir are often seen plucking green tea leaves for their livelihood.

Women working in tea gardens in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Bir is a completely non-commercialised village. It had only small shops providing with the basic stuff. This place taught me how to live without the brands I was used to. I had to drive 15 kms to Jogindernagar to sometimes satisfy my craving for Pani-Puri (Golgappe)..

Small shops for basics in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

The Tibetan colony had few shops selling clothes and other basic necessities. Most of the Tibetans were busy focussing in their devotion to Buddhism.

Shops in tibetan colony in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Women owned small stalls to sell Tibetan food. Some of them even sold momos on the road-side.

Tea and momo stalls in tibetan colony in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

There are tons of adventure shops selling paragliding, trekking, camping and cycling packages to the tourists, who come generally for a day trip to Bir from Mcleodganj for paragliding. The cars loaded with gliders on the roof frequented the roads in the mornings. They drive 16 kms uphill to Billing, the take-off site.

Paragliders in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Me blending in the Himachali culture

I had lot of knowledge exchange sessions with the local people of Bir. I had a lot to learn from them.
By the end of three months, I had accepted and blended in Himachali culture. On my last day, the lady who provided me with domestic help at my home, invited me for lunch at her place. She surprised me with wrapping a 'Pattu' on me before serving me the lunch.

Me wearing Pattu - traditional dress for women in Bir, Himachal Pradesh

Related Posts:

Bir - ecotourism, spirituality and adventure

Guide to Mcleodganj