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Chalal Village – A hike to remember

Before we talk about Chalal Village, lets talk a little bit about Kasol to start of with. Because you need to reach Kasol first, to start the hike for Chalal village.

Kasol is a little hamlet in the Kullu valley beside the Parvati river between Bhuntar and Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh. The place has gained a lot of popularity from young travelers due to its chilled ambience and very few restrictions all around for all kind of activities. It is situated 75km from Manali and almost 285 km from Chandigarh.

There are multiple ways you can reach Kasol :

  • By Bus – There are plenty of Volvo bus services directly available from Chandigarh, Shimla, Manali & Delhi. For that most of them you need to get down near Bhuntar and take their local state buses to reach Kasol. You can also available the interstate and HTPDC buses as well to reach Kasol.
  • By Cab – Plenty of cab services operate from Chandigarh, Shimla, Manali & Delhi as well on shared and private basis depending on the kind of vehicle you chose.
  • By Air – The nearest airports are Chandigarh and Bhuntar, however flights landing in Bhuntar are comparatively lesser than that of Chandigarh airport.

The road to Kasol from Bhuntar is picturesque with huge mountains on all sides and the beautiful Parvati river accompanying through out the journey. The stretch is about 30 km and it takes 1.5-2 hours depending on traffic as the road is quite narrow.

Kasol is more of a junction point for travellers who considers it as a centre point for treks and hikes to places like Chalal, Tosh, Malana, Kalga, Pulga, Rasol, Manikaran, Grahan, etc. It is also the base point for the famous Khirganga trek as well.

There are plenty of accommodation available in and around Kasol mainly comprising of River camps, Hostels, Homestays, Guest houses, Hotel, cottages and Resorts.

Tips : Try to book your stay a little away from Kasol Main Market as the place is quite congested and crowded

We stayed in a homestay which is around 4km away from the Kasol Main market on the road which leads to Bhuntar called Colonel’s Dacha, you can read the review of the place here. We chose this property to avoid getting stuck in traffic while returning which is quite a frequent event specially near the main market area and the road which crosses Kasol Market and heads towards Manikaran.

Now coming back to Chalal Village. Chalal is situated at a height of 5300 ft and has managed to retain its old-world mountain village rustic charm. The beautiful houses, the simple livelihood of the people, the animals in the farm and the simple local people will surely attract you to come to this place again. If you are planning to lose yourself to the mountains Chalal is the perfect hamlet for you.

How to reach : The hike to Chalal from Kasol Main market generally takes around 1-1.5 hour if you are stopping and clicking pictures on your way of the beautiful Parvati Valley and the total distance is around 2km. If we talk about the demographic structure, the Parvati river flows between the mountains ranges, the Kasol town and the market falls on one side of the river and if you have to go to Chalal village you need to cross the river to go to the other side.

Just beside the Kasol nature park and behind the main market area you will get the Kasol Bridge. So if you are coming from the market side you have to cross this bridge and get on the other side of the river and go left to start the hike. You need to walk till White House resort and just beside it you will get the trail which goes up the mountains to the main village. If you are staying beside any camp or resort before the Kasol main market area, you will get another wooden suspension bridge to cross the Parvati river, and you need to go right, so you can avail that also depending on whichever is nearer to you.

We used this bridge to cross the river as this was close to our resort and so we saved quite sometime rather than going up till the main market area. The time taken for the hike to Chalal from this bridge is quite less compared to the other one.

Try to start early if you are planning this hike, as we noticed as time passed the number of people heading towards the village were increasing. Also do not forget to carry your camera as the view of the Parvati valley is something to die for. We covered both the trails on our hike. While going we used the wooden bridge area and we had to go right this time which will lead us to White House Cottage resort. If you are coming from the main market area the road will be towards your left once you cross the Kasol bridge.

On our way we saw many small camps and cottages and river side cafes. So even if you have not done your breakfast, you will get plenty of options to have it on the road.

The view of the snow capped mountains at the background and the beautiful Parvati river flowing from the valley will be something we can never forget. We carried a small portable speaker along with us to give us company on the road. There is a small narrow road which goes up to the village which is just beside the White House resort. You need to keep an eye to this road, as if you miss this, you need to once again come back or choose a different road which might take longer.

As we continued our hike we left the Parvati river behind and started going up to the mountains. The road is not steep at all, so anyone can easily go up and come down with ease.

While we were going up, we witnessed the beautiful houses and met few locals along our journey. Wish we could spend more time with them. We also saw few Apple orchards, however as it was winter, the trees had hardly any leaves on them. We heard from the locals that from August to October the trees gets filled with apples.

At times the lanes were quite narrow which goes behind some houses as well. There are plenty of homestays and cottages in and around for accommodation purposes. The only challenge we saw is that you need to carry your own luggage and hike up if you are coming with trolleys and side bags. If you are carrying a rucksack, don’t think it will be too much of an issue.

We stopped near a house to catch our breath and had some tea & water before continuing the journey. While we relaxed, we had a chat with a local lady who we came to know later that she was a single mother and the only earning member of the family who is staying with her two little daughters. The thing that surprised us was the simplicity and humbleness of the local people. She told us stories about how she managed her livelihood during the Covid period and won the small battles of her life. She also shown us how they make local fabric materials to earn their livelihood and also their Sweet lime (Mosambi) trees whose fruits they sell in the local market.

Upon continuing our journey, we also went to one of their local shops where you can get all kind of junk jeweleries, hand made bags, gift items etc.

The village was quite small, upon going up we went to one of their small temple trees where we saw how the local people offer flowers and fruits to their gods. The view of the mountain ranges were magnificent from there.

We carried our own food, sat there, ate and relaxed for a while before getting down again. We would say if you are coming to Kasol you can also try to stay in Chalal village as well. We saw few porters along the path who were carrying luggages and if you contact the homestays they might arrange porters for you as well. The view at night on a full moon day sitting under the open sky full of stars on the mountains is something we will try definitely the next time around.

If you further climb up for 3-4 hours from Chalal you will reach Rasol village. This hike will be a lot steeper than the Chalal trek. So you can also choose to hike up to Rasol as well if you have time. We did not go for the hike this time around though.

It takes half the time to get down and before even realizing we found ourselves standing in front of the White House resort. We had our lunch in the resort itself and the food was delicious. The price was very reasonable and the quantity was good as well.

While returning back we wanted to go to the Kasol market so rather than taking the usual road to the wooden bridge we went opposite which leads to the Market. The road is quite safe and there are arrow marks through out the way which will lead to the market area. Once again we noticed many food joints and beautiful cafes beside the river bank overlooking the valley where people can sit back and relax.

You can also get down near the river bank and click beautiful pictures, but don’t get too close to the water as the locals say it is quite dangerous and often tourists encounter accidents as the flow of the Parvati river is very high and the water is quite deep at certain areas.

Upon walking further we finally came across the Kasol Bridge and as we crossed we entered the main market area in no time. There are lot of cafes, restaurants, local shops to explore in this area. Kasol is famous for their bakery and Israeli cuisine, so don’t forget to try them.

To conclude, if you visit Kasol, dont forget to do this simple yet beautiful hike. It will be definitely worth it. Read our Manali & Kasol blog to know more about Himachal.

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