Malana village rather a Hamlet is situated in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India and around 8,700 ft above sea level is world famous among stoner culture for multiple reasons. The reasons are both weird and beautiful at the same time. Most are familiar with the name "MALANA" as the village is popular among young generation and stoner culture for producing world’s no. 1 hash known as 'malana cream'. So if you are a hash scorer or peace seeker then this village is none the less of a paradise for you.
But lesser known fact is that the villagers believe themselves to be the direct descendants of “Alexander the great” and that makes them believe the “Aryan blood” flow through their veins.
They also claim Malana village to be one of the oldest democracies in the world with a well-organized private parliamentary system. Another fact narrates that they are the only existing tribe who speaks “Kanashi” language (don't worry, they speaks hindi too) which is far more different from the neighboring languages which is believed to be the mixture of Sanskrit and some of the Tibetan dialects. But some believes this language to be the mixture of Tibetan-Burmese language.
WHY SHOULD YOU VISIT HERE?
As I said, they believe themselves to be the descendants of Alexander so you could still get a chance to see Aryan bloodline but it would be wrong to sketch them as billionaires in our minds. As they do daily works like carrying wooden sticks from down the camp to burn, running small shops and handling cattle to meet their daily needs. There is a small valley under Malana village named Magic valley where the cultivation of malana cream takes place in summer.
As out of 12 months, snow poses that place for more than 8 months. During snowfall this place is beyond the beauty one can imagine and average temperature throughout the year stays around 10 °C. In case you are still not impressed, just think of a situation where you are smoking a giant joint made of world’s no. 1 hashish sitting on the snow (8,700ft above sea) and looking at nature's one of the most beautiful creation, ahhh!! Here comes the peace.
HOW YOU GONNA REACH?
You can take a bus for Bhuntar from Delhi. Bhuntar is the main junction from where you’ll get buses for different locations like Kullu, Manali, Kasol, etc. From there local buses goes for Jari (also spelled as Jaree) and the duration is around 2 hours (23 km). From there car/taxi booking is done for reaching Malana base camp within 1 hour. At the base camp, there is a welcome gateway with name written on it: “way to Malana village” in both English & Hindi. If you are willing to bring your own vehicle then be ready to take the risk as there is no security post to take care of your vehicle. From the gate it is around 5 km trek towards Malana Point.
During this trek, you'll be surrounded with blissful nature where you have to cross a bridge and then almost a stiff mountain. Most of the steps are very slippery due to melting of ice so it'll take around 3-4 hours to cover 5km upside distance (distance mentioned as per locals). At last after crossing a narrow path of snow-covered rocks you'll enter the Malana village.
VOILA!!
WHERE TO STAY AND SCORE?
At the end of the village there are few cafes' to stay for a night or two. Try to avoid touching or talking to locals as they don’t like to get touched by the untouchables (yes, you read it right! for them except Aryans, all are untouchables) until they come and talk to you first. More important, don’t touch any sort of thing in the village like Temple of “Jamlu Rishi” (unless you are rich enough to pay a hefty fine of Rs 5000).
We stayed at Dragon Cafe. Lodging price is even lesser than you can imagine but food price is more than you can imagine. They'll provide a room of 4 for just Rs 500 but it’s up to you if you want to stay 8 instead of 4 ( see, I told you how cheap it is) but for a plate (includes Rice, 2 chapatis, pulse and a curry) it costs around Rs 300 (I told you how expensive it is).
Now comes the main part for which you have troubled your body to get to Malana- 'the malana cream'. No need to go out and keep on asking locals for the cream. While you’ll rest at the fireplace warming your legs and hands (gonna cost you extra 500 bucks), few teenagers will come and approach you for it. If you are not a stoner then you can politely say so to the kids and they'll return after passing a broad smile. Before sleeping, don't forget to take a look outside your cafe as I can bet, you'll remember that night view for a very, very long time.
*Few of the things you need to know if you are a beginner that
-in every 6 km upwards 1 degree temperature falls
-always carry a long and semi thick stick (this gonna help your legs during upside trekking)
-always maintain a safe distance (say 1 m) from one another if you are trekking in a group.