How to reach Kasol/Malana and top things to do around this stunning hill-station of Himalayan State of India

If you are a regular visitor of Travellingcamera, you must have noticed that title of this Photo Journey is not really matching with what we usually share. This post is inspired by lot of queries which come to us, especially in summer.  One of the mostly asked thing is the options to reach Kasol and Malana. Here we are trying to share some details the option to reach Kasol/Malana, places to stay, things to do and lot more. 

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While compiling this post, old memories are coming to my mind. I started this blog in 2008 and never got a chance to go again to Kasol, but my only trip to this region was very exciting with college friends. We planned a trip to Kullu Manali from Shimla and thought of visiting Kasol/Malana as well. This was a week long trip and we spent 3 days walking & trekking around Kasol. 

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When it comes to options of reaching Kasol from Delhi or Chandigarh, the only way to hit this region is by road. It's not connected by railway and flights are not very frequent to Kullu. There is an Airport near to Kasol, which is located in Bhuntar (Kullu) but flights are rare and would be a costly affair. In some of the portals, folks have quoted low rates like 2.5K but I could never find that. There is no rail line in part of Himachal Pradesh. Kiratpur Saheb in Punjab and Una in Himachal are two railway stations around this place. Both of these railways stations are more than 150 kilometers away from Kasol. There is another narrow-gauge line at around 100 kilometers, which is located in Jogindernagar, but it's not recommended except in a scenario when you have enough time and want to experience toy train, which starts from Pathankot and ends at Jogindernagar.

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So road is only good options to reach Kasol. Now transportation has improved a lot and you have multiple options. There are luxury buses by HRTC are available for Kullu from Delhi, Chandigarh & many other main cities. Even normal buses of HRTC are also quite good and cheapest way to travel. Luxury buses by Himachal Tourism are also available from Delhi. All Volvo buses by HRTC & Himachal Tourism start from Himachal Bhavan in Delhi, which is located in Mandi House near Connaught Place.  

You may want to check the links from where you can book bus tickets HERE.

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All these buses go to Manali via Kullu and one needs to get down at Bhuntar to take local bus for Kasol or a taxi. Kasol is located at around 30 kilometers from Bhuntar. Kullu can be reached from Delhi by national highway NH 1 up to Chandigarh and from there by national highway NH21 which passes through Bilaspur, Sundernagar and Mandi towns. Kullu is 480 km from Delhi. 

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To know more about adventurous & interesting hill stations in Himachal -  Over 30 hill stations of Himachal Pradesh, India

There are various options available to stay in and around Kasol. Budget hotels, few resorts and luxury home-stays as well. And this place offers great atmosphere all around. Fresh air , blue sky, parvathi river, local folks, cattle grounds, green hills and lot more. There are various interesting treks around Kasol and Malana. There are various easy, moderate and difficult treks around Kasol village. Kheer Ganga is one of the main treks. Whole Parvati valley is very different and more beautiful from many surrounding hills stations of Himachal Pradesh. There is lot to explore in this part of Himachal, some can be discussed and some are not to be disclosed in public ! 

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You may want to check about Manala Trek here.

Kasol is a village in Parvati Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Parvati River flows through the village. There is a bridge in the village which divides it in two parts known as Old Kasol and New Kasol. Lot of Foreigners can be seen in the streets around this place. Holy place Manikaran is just 5 kilometers from Kasol. Malana is another popular village which is reachable after a moderate trek. We went till Malana and heard a lot of stories about the place. We also got to know that many of the foreigners have come to this place and living here for many years now. Lot of Israelis come to Kasol and one can see the hebrew language banners in parvati valley.  Probably I will share another post only on Malana with some of the mind boggling stories associated with this place, the cannabis and local democracy.  

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Kasol is one of the favorite places for backpackers and also a base for Himalayan trekking to SarPass, Pin Parbati Pass and Kheer ganga. Wish you a great trip to Kasol.

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I would request you to follow these things when traveling -

- Manage your waste well and don’t litter

- Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.

- Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.

- Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.

- Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite