The Malana village lies around 21 kilometres from Kasol. The road leading to it is very beautiful and surrounded by greenest of the greenery.
How to reach: If you do not have a private vehicle then reach Jari from Kasol by bus and you can get taxi from Jari to Malana. This is excluding the trek of 2 kilometers, the taxi will drop you at the trek point.
I reached the point where the trek to Malana village starts. The Malana trek took me around 2 hours, and if you are fit, you can do it earlier but the views during the trek will leave you spellbound, so be prepared to spend more time than desired.
View from the Malana Trek
The mist that surrounds the mountains, the tall pine trees, the quietness and peace will have the best of you. Sometimes it is so quiet that you can literally hear your heartbeat. The Malana trek is not too hard and will take you to a height of almost 9,000 feet. When I reached the Malana village, I could see it is almost untouched with houses having a unique architecture of wood and stone plates as roof.
Malana Village(Image from internet)
What to do in Malana: Enjoy the untouched beauty of the village, visit the Temple of Jamlu Devata, Jana waterfall and if you plan for some adventure then go to the Chandarkhani Pass.
The gigantic mountains are visible through the forest whose size is intimidating.
What not to do in Malana: This village has strict rules so please do not touch anything as there are fines for doing so, do not take photographs without permission and be respectful to the local people and culture. The villagers are very protective of their culture.
Like many villages in the mountains, the local deity of the Malana village is Jambu Devata who is said to be the father of Lord Parashurama. Even the language of the people is different and is called Kanashi.
The mountains surrounding Malana
Where to stay: The sad news is recently the village had decided that such cafes or houses will not be allowed as they were creating disturbing and destroying the local culture. So right now nothing can be said about the stay.
When I went there 3 years ago, I had Masala chai and a snack at the nearby café. Staring at the mountains and sipping my tea at 9,000 feet was a unique experience and only enhanced the trip’s awesomeness.
Sipping Tea at 9,000 feet
On my way down, I halted at a small stream with a waterfall and put my feet in the ice cold water to relax. The water magically sucked up all the stress, and then off I went on my bike to Kasol again.
