Eco-Tourism, Sustainable Tourism or Home Stay is related to nature, Community, society, preservation and identity. Home Stay and Festivals are the backgrounds of each tribe or community. The best way to enjoy this is to stay at the homestay and enjoy the culture, cooking and their lifestyle. Secondly celebrating their festival is also a way to patronize their identity and lastly is the intermixing with the hosts
Nepal, Sikkim & Darjeeling is home to Gorkha, Newar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Bhutia, Chettri, Sherpas, Magar, Gurung, Sunwar, etc have developed homestay which is sustainable and eco-friendly. Thatched Bamboo cottages are one such favourite home which they promote for tourists.
Bhutan is home to numerous ethnic groups, with many tribal peoples like the Brokpa, Lepcha, Ngalop, Sharchop, Lhotshampa, Lepcha, Doya, Rai, Limbu, living in rural villages all over Bhutan. However, there are some distinct large ethnic groups – including the Ngalop of Tibetan origin that live mainly in western and northern Bhutan and are the dominant political and cultural element. Their language, Dzongkha, is the national tongue. The Sharchop live in eastern Bhutan; and the Lhotshampa in the south.
Bhutan’s landscape is as rich and unspoilt as its culture. Steep high mountains, deep valleys and swift rivers offer breathtakingly beautiful scenery. In the north there is the alpine shrub and meadows of the Eastern Himalayas; central Bhutan is made up of the Black Mountains, dense forests and the river systems of Mo Chhu and Drangme Chhu; and the south comprises the Shiwalik Hills, lowland river valleys, and subtropical Duars Plain with its dense vegetation.
Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Seven Sisters & North of West Bengal is known for its colourful festival. Northeast India along with Nepal & Bhutan have hundreds of tribe. These tribes have their unique cultures and architecture. Their life comes alive in the form of song, dance and celebration during the festivals, hence we always promote such packages which covers these festivals. These are eco-based as almost all tribes are nature lovers and worship them in various styles.
Some of the popular festivals of the Seven Sisters of Northeast India are Kalachakra, Tshechus, Hornbill Festivals, Tea Festivals, Sangai, Bihu,Losar, Darjeeling Carnival, Ziro Music, Shillong, Saga Dawa, Solung, Nyokum, Mopin, Ambubachi Mela, Wangala, Nongkrem Dance, Kharchi Puja, Kang Chingba, Lui Ngai Ni, Anthurium, Chapchar Kut, etc
Some popular festivals of Nepal are equally colourful and are accompanied by dance, food and music. The main festivals are Lhosar, Chhath, Fagu Purnima or Holi, Dashain, Tihar, Mha puja, Teej, Buddha Jayanti, etc
Some popular festivals of Bhutan are equally colourful and are accompanied by dance, food and music. The main festivals are Paro Tschechu, Thimphu Tschechu, Jambay Lhakhang Drup, Wangduephodrang Tshechu, Haa Summer Festival, Punakha Tschechu, Drubchen, Black-Necked Crane Festival, etc
Buddhist celebrations held at temples, Dzongs and monasteries throughout the country to mark important events in the life of Guru Rimpoche. Monks perform with sacred cham masked dances to the sound of horns and cymbals, interspersed with performances of folksongs, whilst apsaras, naughty clowns with vast wooden phalli, entertain the crowd! People flock from surrounding villages dressed in their best clothes to enjoy these lively, high-spirited festivals. They receive blessings, catch up with friends and family and share meals of red rice, spicy pork, ema datshi and momos (pork dumplings) whilst drinking the heady traditional rice wine known as ara.
We are trying to develop sustainable village tourism. It is a tool and has taken extra care to spread awareness of local culture and lifestyle. We as a tourism house we try to just promote these homestays and community as they are economically not so developed. Recent time knowledgeable, passionate, nature lovers enquire about such places. There are many organization, individuals, Tea Estate or even Government officials help in to develop homestay so that our activities help local people socially and economically improves. Interaction with travellers and the knowledge that they are visiting for the richness in the culture brings in a sense of pride amongst the people and also brings in supplementary sources of income hence it makes economic sense to the villagers as well as tourists. We use our time and patience to identify our partners in each such destinations. The focus was always about finding partners who are already involved in working with local people. Homestay or tea tourism is two of the options most popular among our guests. The stay is with basic facilities and creates less impact environmentally.
A concept of ecotourism preferred by most of our guest and is fast catching up locally and internationally. These reduce pollutions and helps villagers to develop and redefine themselves. Home stay is arranged and run by villagers and it includes staying in villages or a whole village set up made especially for the guest. It is known by different name in the different region. Birding, short trails, angling are part of the stay and are not spoken or written separately, it is part of the concept.
The stay is simple with basic infrastructure and is about bringing one closer to local cultures and environment. A local guide from the destination will help guest with their cultures and ways of life far better and earn a much-needed income. There are festivals and special arrangement for guest who wants more. Staying in cottages, fishing, small walks, cooking or simply doing nothing are some of the options travellers ask for. Village or Home Stay popularity is fast catching up and many of the places in this region are setting up such facilities with some form of adventure for the guest. There is a number of such homestay facilities in the region. Guest visit helps the economy, buying local products, buying art materials and using local villagers as a guide or help.
The benefits are participating in Sustainable village tourism, observe about the lifestyle of the group / tribe, guest can spread their own message, Teach and learn environmental issues, Gain knowledge about a particular place /region/people, Enjoy an idea of culture, religion etc, visiting Off beat destination, learn cooking, agriculture, angling etc and Participate in local festivals
Some of the famous and nice homestay sites are the following. Here the hospitality is warm and one can participate in any activities of choice. One can cook or learn the agricultural practice, birding and angling or just go for a short trek. Some of our guests have stayed for three days and extended it for a couple of days just to participate in their festival celebration. Guest returns to the same place again and again. The guest might learn to cook some of the local dishes like Momo or dumpling etc. Yes the sophistication is missing but the warmth and hospitality is pleasing
We Deliver
Home Stay is one of the best way to explore the region and specially the Himalayn Home stay. This includes home stay in Kalimpong or Kalimpong Home stay, Kurseong Home stay, etc. North East Home stay list is unending yet we have tried to include Sikkim, Assam, Kalimpong, Darjeeling (West Bengal) home stay. Each Himalayan home stay has its own charm and feelings. We try to devlop or promote few home stays in our region. We take extra care to spread awareness of local culture, festival and lifestyle. We as a tourism house did not discover the destination we just developed a network of small operators and knowledgeable / passionate individuals to develop home stay so that our activities helps local people socially and economically. There are many such Homestay developed over the years all over the word. few organisation/ individual or group are involved in suct project. We introduce our guest to such destinations. Chatakpur near Darjeeling, Sittong near Mongpoo known as the orange village, Mongpoo the famous destination of Rabindranath Tagore, Sabuj Sathi Resort in Lataguri, Pasting near Lava, Damsang near Pedong / Kalimpong, Reshi near Reshikhola / Pedong , Lepchakha, Buxa, On the rocks near Samsing or Murt Khlola or Rocky Island are some of the community based eco tourism center. The list is growing day by day. We first visit the spot check the property and thjen if satisfied advice our guest to avail the oppertunity to visit the place.. We have highly recommended laces to amny and got appreciation from our guest. Eco tourism is a new sector of tourism but was in practice long back. Only the concept has been redesign and new features has been added. In some places the whole community particiapte in such project and say 10 to 12 homestay come up within a short span which can accomodate groups. Community based tourism is on the rise in this region and we are trying to incorporate them in main stream tourism safegaurding their identity. Cultural Tourism comes under this home stay banner but not all homestay is aware of the cultural part. Hence a few selective home stay are cultural based. Kagey is a new home stay developed near Pedong.
In Sikkim some of the places of tourist interest has been developed but the infrastructure are not fullt developed - Aritar, Lingtam, Rumtek, Mangan, Biksthang, Borong, Hee Bermiok, Kaleej, Kaluk, Martam, Namchi, Okhrey, Pastanga, Pelling, Rinchenpong, Yuksom, Sikip, Temi, Reshi, Uttarey, Yangtey, Varsey, Zuluk. Stay in this places are enjoyed by guest who loves nature truly
In Darjeeling region there are a few newly developed destinations like Baggura, Baramangwa, Charkhol, Chatakpur, Chilapata, Peshok, Chota Mangwa, Lebong, Delo, Dhupjhora, Fagu Tea Bungalow, Gahunbari, Sittong, Pedong, Mongsong, Sillery, Jorepokhri, Kalipur, Reshikhola, Kolakham, Makaibari, Rangbang, Latpanchar, Lava, Samthar, Chuikhim, Mongpong, Paren, Pedong, Raimatang, Gachbari, Rikissum, Samsing, Selim Hill, Rammam, Sandakphu, Gurdung, Takdah, Tinchuley, Tumling, Zurrantee,Bamonpokhori, etc are few more places in this region for leisure holidays. Stay in this places are enjoyed by nature lovers irrespective of infrastructure
Interaction with travelers and the knowledge that they are visiting for the richness in the culture brings in a sense of pride amongst the people and also brings in supplementary sources of income hence it makes economic sense to the villagers as well. We only try to educate and accomodate our guest to such opportunities and they also help us by believing in us.
We use our time and patience to identify our partners in each destination. The focus was always about finding partners who are already involved in working with local people. Home stay or tea tourism is two of the options most popular among our guests. The stay is with very basic facilities and creates less impact environmentally. The local culture, custom, festival are exposed to the tourist. Our host at each place are eager to please the tourist with their best effort. They even try to learn various types of cooking, etc from guest.
A concept preferred by most of our guest and is fast catching up locally and internationally. Home stay is arranged and run by villagers and it includes staying in Tea Gardens or Tea Estate or villages or a whole village set up made especially for the guest. It is known by different name in different region. Birding, short trails, angling are part of the stay and are not spoken or written separately, it is part of the concept.
The stay is simple with basic infrastructure and is about bringing one closer to local cultures and environment. Local guide from the destination will help guest with their cultures and ways of life far better and earn a much needed income. There are festivals and special arrangement for guest who wants more.
Staying in cottages, fishing, small walks, cooking or simply doing nothing are some of the options travelers ask for. Some basic facilities are being extended to guest and it might not confirm facilities and infrastructure of corporate / Western or like any other International tourism standards. The popularity is fast catching up and many of the places in this region are setting up home stay facilities with some form of adventure for the guest. There are number of such home stay facilities in the region. The visit helps the economy, buying local products, buying art materials and using local villagers as guide or help.A concept preferred by most of our guest. Fast catching up locally and internationally. Home stay is arranged and run by villagers and it includes staying in Tea Gardens or Tea Estate or villages or a whole village set up made specially for the guest.. It also a part of responsible tourism and ecotourism. It is known by different name in different region. Birding, Short trails, Angling are part of the stay and are not spoken or written separately, it is part of the concept.
The benefits
Improve awareness about the locals regarding Tourism
Guest learn about the lifestyle of the group / tribe
Guest can spread their own message
Teach and learn environmental issues
Gain knowledge about a particular place / region / people
Enjoy an idea of culture, religion etc
Simplicity and friendship
Off beat destination with some attraction
To learn cooking, agriculture, angling etc
Participate in their festivals and other religious activities
Some of the famous and nice home stay sites are the following. Here the hospitality is warm and one can participate in any activities of choice. One can cook or learn agricultural practice, birding, angling or just go for a short trek. Some of our guest has stayed for three days and extended it for a couple of days just to participate in their festival celebration. Guest returns to the same place again and again. Yes the sophistication is missing but the warmth and hospitality is pleasing.
Mamring
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Palmazua
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Hum Tera - Home stay is arranged in Tea Estate near Kurseong. One can also stay at Cochrane palace which is luxurious but is similar to home stay. We do offer packages tailor made for home stay along with normal sight seeing and visit to off beat site. Booking through us you will get at reasonable cost and the services are garunteed. Activities involves visiting Tea Manufacturing unit, Visiting Tea Estate, Small Treks, Cultural Program, guest learn to cook some of the local dishes like Momo or dumpling etc.
The Prakriti eco retreat, Damsang Sillery village, Reshi ecotourism resort, Pedong holiday resort, Neel Pahari resort, Jelep La village resort, Chavi village resort, Dadul guest house, Damsang guest house, Makaibari Homestay, etc are also vailable but with two months notice as the accommodations are in maximum of four cottages in some of them.