A day hike to Malana from Kasol..

 

It was the end of March 2021 when I ended up in Kasol and other parts of Paravti Valley for a few days. The COVID induced lockdown was relaxed completely at this point only to be reintroduced during the devastating second wave a month later. Kasol was at its usual best with occasional rain and surprisingly warmer weather for end of March.

A store after the gate on trail to Malana

Although Kasol was bustling with its signature leisurely vibe owing to a long weekend, I decided to hike to Malana to explore the place. I’ve been to Manali and around earlier as well and always wanted to trek across the Chanderkhani pass from Naggar to Malana and never quite managed to do it due to one constraint or the other and it was not going to happen this time as well. As a consolation, I at least wanted to go to Malana through the normal road route and a short hike across the Malana river. The village itself is located in a side valley to the Paravti valley which offers a view of the Chanderkhani peak.

View from the trail towards Indrasan 

Legend says, the unique social structure of Malana is a result of the villagers following a democratic system set in place ages ago by Jamlu Rishi, who the villagers believe they are descendants from. As a result, Malana has its own democratic process of choosing their local leadership and they consider the village to be the oldest democracy in the world. A rather peculiar aspect of village folk here is that they believe to be superior from the outside world and do not let the outsiders touch them or any religious place in the village (I wondered later as to how  they do allow people to camp in the village or stay in the one odd homestay though). In any case, I had no intention of debating about anything to do with superiority and thought I would give religious places in the village a wide berth.

Jamlu Devta Temple in Malana Village

Malana village is a short hike from the gate which takes upto 2 hours each way or lesser depending on fitness and number of stops enroute. I rented a bike that morning from Kasol (A Yamaha scooter, not a geared bike, I recommend this since it is only 22kms each way), the idea was to park the bike at Malana gate and ride back after the hike. The bike rental cost was 700 rupees and since there were no petrol stations in Kasol, an additional 200 for fuel, it still worked out a lot cheaper than the 2000 rupees whjich is the return fare for a standard Maruti Alto taxi.

Malana Gate

We had breakfast after Kasol at about 09AM and took the right turn to Malana at the power plant before Jari, the power station is a large structure and it’s hard to miss the turn. A few kilometers of climb later is when the valley beside the road offers amazing views and is a pleasure to ride in the hilly roads (For the most part, we were extremely mindful of the blind turns and rash trucks). A short reservoir, another power station and more than an hour later, we were at Malana gate. It took close to 3 hours to reach with multiple stops enroute to just sit and appreciate the beautiful views the valley has to offer. The floral diversity of Himachal revealed itself in full glory at most parts of the ride which we appreciated thoroughly.

Rich roadside floral diversity enroute to Malana

We were chatting with one of the loveliest people around who runs a small tea and grocery store overlooking the valley when a mini-van arrived with 2 sheep being the precious cargo, they were to be transported to Malana. What followed for the next 20 minutes was a sight that could only be best understood when witnessed directly. Locals  in most parts of the valley have an elaborate network of small cableways to transport lighter goods from the nearest roads to the village over the valley, this reduces the otherwise 3-4 kms long hike which includes a descent and a steep climb to a mere 500mts straight cableway. While the motor pulled cart over the cable is not a new sight since such things are available all over the country near mines, transporting sheep which looked like they were scared to death over the deep valley was a first.

Pedestrian Bridge over Malana river

We began the hike after this which in itself is just a plain ascent, steps being available most of the way. The only noteworthy thing to mention is the lovely dog named brownie we met along the way, other than that it is a fairly easy hike even for people who aren’t used to much outdoor activity. 

View from the hike towards approach road to Malana Gate

We did end up going to the temple, careful at all times to maintain a safe distance and hiked back after buying a fair bit of creamy chocolates that the people of this village famously make.

Midway on the trail to Malana

We were back at the Malana gate by about 4PM and spent a little while chatting with the gentleman we met in the morning and reached Kasol by 0630 to head to Manikaran later that night. 

Malana River

We of course did not carry many chocolates owing to people checking and trying to seize the chocolates at the junction point to kasol road at Jari and made sure we ate them very responsibly, wary of the ride back to Kasol. We did collect our trash since Malana was quite dirty in itself to begin with. Although it’s a fun hike for a day, if you are heading to Kasol and are short on time to explore more places, this is definitely something you can skip. The ride till Malana gate is still worth it though.