Wanderlust #1 - A Stoners paradise called Kasol

The poetry of the earth is never dead.
~ John Keats

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Imagine a magical place — 5200ft above sea level, a tiny town amidst the lush green, shimmering snow-capped mountains of Parvati valley. Flowing through the mountains is the crystal clear Parvati river whose clattering and gushing sound is all that breaks the silence and the fresh and pure fragrance of the Cannabis plant engulfs the whole valley with sweetness and awe.

Yes, it exists. And its called 'Kasol'.

Nestled in the lap of Parvati valley alongside the streaming and gurgling Parvati River, this remote town is a blessing for adventure buffs, trekkers and backpackers. Backpackers from Israel, Russia, Australia, England and France top the list of those who come here for music, mountains and marijuana.

"Did you know that Beatles re-discovered their music here? Steve Jobs during his trip to India came here, went back and founded one of greatest company ever. I am telling you this place does something to you. There's magic in it."
~ a tourist

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Let's rewind a bit.

After loosing my job recently, I was going through a terrible cycle of interviews and rejections. After being flashed red card multiple times, I decided to switch my 'fc you all' mode on and run for the hills, literally. I love mountains. There is something that calms me and help me focus on the right things in life.

Wanderlust level: unlocked.

I left for Kasol at 2am and the journey took around 14 hours. Once you are in the hills, every moment is like looking into a painting. Crisp breeze that slaps against your face reminding you of city pollution, and a bus in motion that doesn't let you settle at one sight for too long.

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Day One

Once I reached Kasol, I decided to drop my bags at a guest house first. Being here for the second time, I had a fair idea about best restaurants in town. As I was hungry, I decided to go to a small little café with a really nice ambience named “Evergreen”. People were smoking up hashish & marijuana on every table. Men and women, Indians and non-Indians, young and old, rich and poor, every one in Kasol was smoking up. Not just smoking up but were smoking up openly in a restaurant. The owner of the café was an old guy on the counter who accepted a drag of “Chillam” (pipe) as a tip, waiters offered you Hash on sale and customers rolled paper with “Weed” as if they were making tea.

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The small town of Kasol is hardly a strip of 200 meters with hotels and cafés on either side of the road.

A wanderer can find many things in that place. I could see the ice covered mountain peak with a saphire blue sky. I could listen to the sound of birds in the morning. I could see youngsters on the road sides walking along with their friends in baggy cloths and cool caps. I could see hippies with their cool hair styles and I could smell 'Hash' in the air whenever a group of hippies passed me on the sidewalks. I could see a random artist play guitar on the roadside. So much of awesomeness in a small strip of 200 meters!

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When you are in Kasol, you can expect to see many tourists especially from Israel, some of whom have settled in the nestling hills of the area after a stint in the army back home. More foreigners/hippies than Indians are found on the sidewalks of the town, people are either eating or smoking up, smiling, talking, breathing the fresh air. Not a bad way of living life, if you ask me.

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How could we be on a mountain holiday and not walk? So I decided to walk up to a small village of Chalal. It’s a small trek of 45 minutes from Kasol. On the other side of river from Kasol, this narrow path to Chalal runs right next to the roaring Parvati river.

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On my way back from the tiny little village, I ended up treking in the moon light. If river Parvati was calm and soothing during the day then at night it simply transformed into a roaring body of water which is enough to scare the shit out of a faint hearted. Oh Yes! and Chalal is also the place which hosts most of the infamous underground rave parties of Kasol.

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Day Two

Kasol is also the gateway to the many hill towns in the area, another 2-3 hour long drives upward. There's Tosh, Challal, Bharshaini, Kheerganga, Rasol, Kalga and if you're brave enough to climb, Malana.

I have been to Kasol earlier but we couldn't explore further as my friends had to join office next day. Now, I had plenty of time (pleasures of being unemployed). I decided to walk 3km to get to Manikaran. Manikaran is a pilgrimage centre for Hindus and Sikhs. It has many Temples and a famous Gurudwara. The area is well-known for its natural hot-water springs and its beautiful landscape.

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I paid my respects and also enjoyed free food in the langar at Gurudwara. Took the bus to Bashaini. Barshaini is the last village till which buses can go in valley. Tosh is a trek of 1.5 hr from Barshaini.

The only piece of land connecting the village to the main roads of the hills is a wooden bridge. The smaller the roads, the larger the hills.

On my way to the guest house that happened to be at the top of the mountain, I was offered 'ice' (local stuff) by a tea shop owner. This was followed by two cups of sweet tea and an atop view that can quite literally take your breath away into the wind.

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Day Three

Next day, I came back from Tosh and took a cab to Malana village. It took around 3 hours by cab and another trek of 1hr to reach Malana.

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Even in the time of technology and globalization, the village is untouched by the humdrum of the popular. Malana is one of the oldest standing democracies of the world, with the small village managing it's own affairs even today. They have their own language which is not spoken in anywhere else in the world; enabling them to communicate like encrypted communication.

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For the locals, cannabis is a 'religion.' There is nothing else that grows in the valley except cannabis. Unlike other mountain villages where people farm potatoes and peas, Malana grows only one plant — cannabis. Infact, the stretch of cannabis fields in the whole of Parvati valley is quite unbelievable. They are seen growing wild everywhere. So, the livelihood of all Malani people depends on those 3 months of cannabis harvesting from September to November. There are approximately 7000 people in the village and almost each and everyone work together during the harvesting time.

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Staying in Malana is enough to get you high. The guest house owner was an IT engineer who had left his job and leased this little property to settle in the village. They had a hall with campfire in the middle of the room and posters of 'The Beatles' on every wall. At evening, everyone in the guest house gathered in the hall.

In the next few hours, I heard a lot of stories, became friends with strangers, had the best stuff I ever had, food and music that pushed all my senses to heavenly highs; it was the best possible ending to the best trip of my life.

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"As I lie down amidst this fresh green misty garden of cannabis and stare dead at the blue blue sky, I inhale this earth's fragrance; so mesmerizing, so serene. Today here , miles away from the world between these mountains, I declare 'war'. Yes. I declare war on life. No longer do you have the power to hypnotize me for I am born, re-born and re-plenished. Life , here in this moment; I abandon you. Go on. Jump. You are free..."
~ An excerpt from my diary written at Malana

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Life is too small to be in a cocoon, start living, start travelling. Don't just travel, explore! Some day when you are on your travels, we will bump into each other and we will share a cup of my favorite lemon honey ginger tea.

Till then, live out and live loud.

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