Access: Road: Drive up from Chandigarh (about 6 hours) or Delhi (overnight).
Air: Fly into Bhuntar airfield from Delhi or Chandigarh.
Literally above the clouds at 2,652 metres (8,701 ft), Malana is reached by trekking for an hour from Nirang (where a dam is under construction), accessible by road from Jari in the Parvati valley above Bhuntar.
Nowadays, to conserve the pristine environment, visitors are encouraged to stay at Nirang, so that they can trek to Malana (or onwards) without leaving a lasting impact on nature. Indeed, the heaps of trash littering the walking path made such steps necessary, and we visited just in time, I’d say.
From a few dozen wood-and-mud houses, the village has become a concrete town, as you can see in my pic above. Thankfully, this should remain the furthest extent of so-called development for a few decades. With the Nirang dam coming up soon, it might spell disaster for the culture. Fingers crossed against that!
opendurbar 