Kasol

High in the mountains

When you tell most people, you are going to Kasol, the first reaction is oh Kasauli. Both are in Himachal. That is where the similarity ends though. One is touristy, the other dopey! Kasauli, everyone knows and loves to go to, meandering through the valley.

Kasol, on the other hand, is a well kept secret. Those who know the place are the people who know why it is famous.

Famous for being a mini Israel (that is actually further up Malana), it is almost like the shacks of Goa with their Russian influence observed through availability in menus in the language, ability of locals to speak the language and an obvious bunch of second generation people living there who have mixed well and live and work as locals (including speaking gruff Hindi).

It is the gateway to the havens of Malana, famous for Malana cream, the high quality hash which is quite the rage. The grow conditions (at the foothills of the Himalayas) combined with making of hashish being a major source of money make sure that they are good at what they do (it also means cheap stuff abound).

Bordering the Parvati river, Kasol is also a trekkers paradise with a bunch of breathtakingly beautiful treks along with river (Challal), up to the mountains (Tosh), across the river (Kheer Ganga) for the religious (Gurudwara at Manikaran) and for the dopeys (Malana). You can earn your dope or just stay put in one of the cafes and roll away.

There is something unique about mountain towns, time seems to move slowly, rules seem to apply less (Oct 2nd was not a dry day in Tawang) and it always rains. Kasol is as big as a largish gated community in one of the major cities in India. It has possibly 4 good cafes, hash is available easily and you can openly roll and light up while sitting at a cafe (right under the board which says drugs not allowed)! These cafes serve Israeli food and one of them serves alcohol too, not to mention live music (Fine, we got a mixture of all these because it was Shivratri!) And we walked/hiked (I would not go as far as calling it a trek) around quite a bit till people warned us about ‘pathar gir rahe hain’ and not to venture further. But overall, it was a trip to remember - be it the mind blowing views of the Himalayas covered in snow, half frozen water bodies, openly being able to light up a joint in the middle of a cafe not to mention a 14 hour bus ride. Not things you think you will do all the time. In fact, we were possibly the oldest folks in the bus or amongst the tourists in town but then again you experience things differently during facets of your life.

Getting there

Delhi is the best airport to fly down to. (There is Chandigarh and Bhuntar too, but Delhi would be the best connected). Drive down from there if you are willing to hire a car and brave mountain roads and crazy drivers. The other way is to hire a car or take one of those volvos buses. If you are taking a bus, do remember, politeness is not something you can expect and there are high chances of getting dropped of at Bhuntar even though the ticket may say Kasol. The last bit from Bhuntar to Kasol can be done through shared or individual taxis and even public buses.

We stayed at the Sandhya Hotel and it is one of the better places there. But there are enough places to stay even if you reach there without bookings. There are backpackers dens galore and even the luxurious Himalayan Village.

Do eat at Evergreen Cafe, it is cozy, charming and has great food.