Tag Archives: Himalayas

Scott Mason, left, pilots a paraglider over Pokhara, Nepal, with Anita Hjertas (Bob hitches a ride for a moment). Mr. Mason created the sport of parahawking, in which the paraglider follows a trained bird of prey to catch thermals. Pic by Julian Andrews/Whitehotpix

By John Bishop
in the New York Times

THE air whistled past my helmet as I removed a cube of raw buffalo meat from the bag strapped to my paraglider harness and placed it in my gloved hand. While a soup of haze obstructed the views of the Himalayas one afternoon last spring, I was rewarded with tilting glimpses of the Nepalese city of Pokhara and of Phewa Lake below. The paraglider pilot seated behind me blew his whistle twice, and moments later, a brown Egyptian vulture swooped in an effortless arc, landing on my outstretched arm.