Homestays in the Himalayas
| country: | India |
| location: | Ladakh, Sikkim & Spiti |
| price: | Ladakh: From Rupee 700 (approx £9) per couple per night including food. From Rupee 400 (approx £5) per night (single). Sikkim: From Rupee 176 (approx £2) per person per night. Spiti: From Rupee 480 (approx £6) per person per night including food. |
description
Accommodation in a hot-spot of cultural and biological diversity.
These homestays couple tourism with conservation in higher Himalayas as a means to support local mountain communities and protect the endangered snow leopard, a species endemic to the region.
Begun in collaboration with snow leopard Conservancy India Trust and local tour operators, the program has trained local villagers - mostly women - to coordinate culturally and environmentally friendly homestays for some 1000 visitors that pass through the region each summer.
Ladakh
Between the mountains of the Great Himalaya and the formidable Karakoram lies the high altitude kingdom of Ladakh. Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from 2,750m to 6,670m, covering an area of 90,000sqkm. The primary destination for trekkers and other nature-based visits is Hemis National Park (HNP). Homestay households have been established in the following villages in Hemis National Park: Rumbak, Kaya, Sku, Shingo, Urutse and Chilling.
Sikkim
Sikkim is a hot-spot of cultural and biological diversity in the Eastern Himalaya, and to Dzongu and the Lepcha people. Your homestay experience in Sikkim offers the best of Lepcha hospitality and cultural traditions with tropical mountain forests and spectacular mountain scenery. Dzongu is located in north-western Sikkim. Established in the early 1960s, this territory has been reserved for the Lepcha community and borders the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve. Dzongu has panoramic views of Mount Khangchendzonga (8,585 m), the third highest summit in the world and the protective deity of Sikkim, and has a particularly rich fauna and flora that is endemic to the area.
Spiti
Amongst the few unexplored areas the world over there isn’t one as enchanting and inspiring as Spiti. This land often known as Little Tibet, was historically a part of the kingdom of Nariss Korssum (Western Tibet), and is home to few of the oldest Buddhist monasteries and temples in the world. Tucked away in the interiors of the Trans-Himalayan belt of Himachal Pradesh, this high altitude cold desert region has only recently been opened to the outside world.
Ladak
As a visitor you can have a unique opportunity to learn about Ladakh with village-based guides who are waiting to share their local knowledge of Ladakhi wildlife and people, and show you the area’s stunning fauna and flora. The Hemis High Altitude National Park where most of the guides live is an important habitat for mountain wildlife. About eleven mammal species have been recorded, most of which are threatened with extinction. The park is famous for its snow leopards, and for supporting four species of wild sheep and goats: ibex, bharal (blue sheep), Tibetan argali, and Ladakh urial.
Sikkim
While in Dzongu you will be able to learn about Lepcha culture and lifestyles, the immense diversity of plants and wildlife and enjoy the rich, lush tropical mountain scenery. The forests around Khangchendzonga are some of the most biologically diverse in India, and contain over 30 species of rhododendrons, 400 species of orchids and many other flowering plants. Together with the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve to the west, the combined area also contains a large proportion of the 144 mammals, 300 plus birds, and 400 and more butterflies recorded in Sikkim alone.
Spiti
Spiti has homestays in 5 villages, namely Langza, Komic, Demul, Lhalung and Dhankhar, set along its highlands at an average altitude of 4000 mts. Most of these villages fall within the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary and are home to rare and endangered species of wildlife such as the Snow Leopard, Tibetan Wolf, Blue Sheep, to name a few. Floral diversity especially in the months of July & August lends a hue of colour to the landscape. Picturesque trails and rolling meadows interconnect these villages.
These homestays couple tourism with conservation in higher Himalayas as a means to support local mountain communities and protect the endangered snow leopard, a species endemic to the region.
Begun in collaboration with snow leopard Conservancy India Trust and local tour operators, the program has trained local villagers - mostly women - to coordinate culturally and environmentally friendly homestays for some 1000 visitors that pass through the region each summer.
Ladakh
Between the mountains of the Great Himalaya and the formidable Karakoram lies the high altitude kingdom of Ladakh. Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from 2,750m to 6,670m, covering an area of 90,000sqkm. The primary destination for trekkers and other nature-based visits is Hemis National Park (HNP). Homestay households have been established in the following villages in Hemis National Park: Rumbak, Kaya, Sku, Shingo, Urutse and Chilling.
Sikkim
Sikkim is a hot-spot of cultural and biological diversity in the Eastern Himalaya, and to Dzongu and the Lepcha people. Your homestay experience in Sikkim offers the best of Lepcha hospitality and cultural traditions with tropical mountain forests and spectacular mountain scenery. Dzongu is located in north-western Sikkim. Established in the early 1960s, this territory has been reserved for the Lepcha community and borders the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve. Dzongu has panoramic views of Mount Khangchendzonga (8,585 m), the third highest summit in the world and the protective deity of Sikkim, and has a particularly rich fauna and flora that is endemic to the area. Spiti
Amongst the few unexplored areas the world over there isn’t one as enchanting and inspiring as Spiti. This land often known as Little Tibet, was historically a part of the kingdom of Nariss Korssum (Western Tibet), and is home to few of the oldest Buddhist monasteries and temples in the world. Tucked away in the interiors of the Trans-Himalayan belt of Himachal Pradesh, this high altitude cold desert region has only recently been opened to the outside world.
special things to do and see here
Ladak As a visitor you can have a unique opportunity to learn about Ladakh with village-based guides who are waiting to share their local knowledge of Ladakhi wildlife and people, and show you the area’s stunning fauna and flora. The Hemis High Altitude National Park where most of the guides live is an important habitat for mountain wildlife. About eleven mammal species have been recorded, most of which are threatened with extinction. The park is famous for its snow leopards, and for supporting four species of wild sheep and goats: ibex, bharal (blue sheep), Tibetan argali, and Ladakh urial.
Sikkim
While in Dzongu you will be able to learn about Lepcha culture and lifestyles, the immense diversity of plants and wildlife and enjoy the rich, lush tropical mountain scenery. The forests around Khangchendzonga are some of the most biologically diverse in India, and contain over 30 species of rhododendrons, 400 species of orchids and many other flowering plants. Together with the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve to the west, the combined area also contains a large proportion of the 144 mammals, 300 plus birds, and 400 and more butterflies recorded in Sikkim alone.
Spiti
Spiti has homestays in 5 villages, namely Langza, Komic, Demul, Lhalung and Dhankhar, set along its highlands at an average altitude of 4000 mts. Most of these villages fall within the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary and are home to rare and endangered species of wildlife such as the Snow Leopard, Tibetan Wolf, Blue Sheep, to name a few. Floral diversity especially in the months of July & August lends a hue of colour to the landscape. Picturesque trails and rolling meadows interconnect these villages.
rooms, food and facilities
We provide basic but clean accommodation in a rural home with traditional food.
Ladakh
Selected villages along the Markha and Sham trekking routes have been given homestay training. As a visitor you will be provided: A clean, comfortable room (with candle or solar light), furnished in the Ladakhi style Traditional Ladakhi meals, cooked hygienically using eco-friendly methods Clean solar-boiled spring water to drink A clean traditional dry-composting toilet The opportunity to enjoy the rhythm of life in a village where farming and livestock herding has been the way of life for centuries
Sikkim
In Dzongu there are 8 to 12 Homestays where accommodation and food are arranged for visitors. As a guest you will be provided: A clean comfortable room with electricity or candle. Sleeping arrangements with clean bed sheets Traditional (Lepcha) local meals served in a homely style with boiled drinking water A clean bathroom with attached toilet
Spiti
Homestays provide you with:- Warm Spitian hospitality A clean room with clean bed sheets and pillow covers Local organic cuisine Boiled drinking water Traditional Spitian dry eco-friendly toilet Candle and lamps
Ladakh
Selected villages along the Markha and Sham trekking routes have been given homestay training. As a visitor you will be provided: Sikkim
In Dzongu there are 8 to 12 Homestays where accommodation and food are arranged for visitors. As a guest you will be provided: Spiti
Homestays provide you with:- how this holiday makes a difference
|
These homestays couple tourism with conservation in higher Himalayas as a means to support local mountain communities and protect the endangered snow leopard, a species endemic to the region. Begun in collaboration with snow leopard Conservancy India Trust and local tour operators, the program has trained local villagers-mostly women – to coordinate culturally and environmentally friendly homestays for some 1000 visitors that pass through the region each summer. By putting guests into village homes and elevating the standards of their stay, the program has created sensitive tourism infrastructure; one that delivers funds directly to the communities themselves. It has single handedly transformed the common perception of the snow leopard, from that of a dangerous pest that attacks livestock to a animal whose presence draws travellers and provides important economic opportunity to villagers throughout the region.
Homestays generate additional income for local people – helping offset unavoidable income losses from livestock depredation by snow leopards and other predators. With income from tourism that highlights wildlife viewing, local people have a reason to conserve predators which may threaten their herds, especially since poaching and retributive killing of snow leopards are the major threats across the Himalaya to this rare and beautiful cat.  10% of the money raised by these homestays goes into the village conservation fund which is used for conservation of cultural and natural resources. Some examples are livestock insurance schemes against predatory animals in Sham villages, grazing reserves created for the threatened Tibetan Argali sheep and garbage management in villages of Hemis park where litter is sorted into different categories and tin and bottles are ferried on pack-horses (at the end of the season) and sold to a re-cycling unit in Leh town. Thirteen local men and women from seven villages in Ladakh and Zanskar participated in a nine-day training, with the objective of preparing them to serve as village-based nature guides. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've lead the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |