Feature: women paragliding pilots of Pokhara

Since she was a child, Prativa Bogati had passion for adventure in her veins. But her dream of "flying" on the air came true only when she was 24, when she became a paragliding pilot.

For the past six years, Bogati has enjoyed soaring to the skies as a paragliding pilot in Pokhara, a tourism hub, some 200 kilometers away from the capital Kathmandu.

Bogati performs commercial flights every morning carrying a passenger with the scenic ice-capped mountains, green hills and the serene water of Fewa Lake below.

"I always believed that girls are in no way less capable than boys. The same notion brought me to the flying world, which has become a part of my life now," Bogati told Xinhua in an interview.

Bogati was among the participants of the Garuda Fun-Himalayan Air Festival, the first of such kind of aerial show in the Himalayan country held over the weekend in Bokhara where more than 50 pilots from Nepal, India, China, Germany, Russia and France participated.

There are around 150 paragliding pilots in Pokhara employed by more than 50 paragliding companies. But there are only seven lady paragliding pilots and one of them is Bogati.

Aside from Bogati, Trisha Shrestha and Poonam Bomjan also take a passenger, either local and foreigner, in their paragliding sorties every day.

Paragliding is one of the most popular air sports in Nepal. However, this recreational adventure sport needs a lot of guts and skill on the part of the paragliding pilots.

Bogati, a mother of an 8-year-old boy, told Xinhua that paragliding is unique adventure sport that has many challenges. " Sometimes, the weather or the wind do not cooperate and sometimes, being a woman, there are some physical problems. But if you have the passion for adventure, nothing can stop you," she said.

The 22-year-old Nikita Sunuwar, another woman paragliding pilot in Pokhara, has been flying for the past two years. She has been holding solo flights since one has to experience a solo flight for three years before she can be allowed to take in passengers in what is called "commercial flights."

"I come from the mountainous eastern district of Okhaldhunga. But the flying passion brought me to this city. Our society considers women as weak but I want to prove that, like men, we can also fly," Sunuwar said.

After a long struggle, 107 pilots recently received their license from Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, making them professional paragliders.

The Nepal Air Sports Association holds 15 days basic training for beginner pilots. After that, they are required to have 1,500 hours or three days of solo flights before they are allowed to do commercial flights.

"Paragliding is all about adventure. We are very concerned about safety so we believe that there should be extensive training. We are opening a government training school soon to encourage and train more lady flying enthusiasts," Anik KC, a technical member of Nepal Air Sports Association, said.

Pokhara ranks the top among the five commercial paragliding destinations in the world with gliders. Once you on the air, one can have a breath-taking view of mountains, hills and the lake.

Pokhara's Sarangkot Hill is regarded as the safest spot in South Asia for paragliding because of its all year-round good weather.

Normally, one paragliding pilot flies three times a day. But during peak tourist season, the number of flights goes up, making the sport a lucrative business. A passenger is charged 100 U.S. dollars for a 30-minute flight.

Men and women paragliding pilots get equal pay for their services.

After the April 25 killer earthquake, Nepal is now trying to revive its tourism industry which was badly hit by the temblor. Before the catastrophe, some 200,000 domestic and foreign tourists visit Pokhara just to ride along with the paragliding pilots. Endi