Community Homestay Network does exactly what it says on the tin. It provides accommodation in private homes in communities around Nepal. This accommodation by and large is simple, you stay with a family in their home and experience their daily lives. On the surface, this might not appeal to the more luxury traveller but we’ve thought about this and how CHN stays and experiences can appeal to more travel segments than you might think. Read on to discover more:
The Tea House Trekker
We don’t want to take any business away from our tourism partners, particularly on the tea house treks, which some people may think are our closest competitors. However, we have been noticing a growing trend amongst trekkers in the number of enquiries from people who are wanting to add a homestay experience onto the start or the end of their trek, which is a great idea! The most obvious choices of homestays for this would be:
At the start of a trek from Pokhara: The Hemjakot Community Homestay is just an hours’ drive away from Pokhara, and filled with warm hearted villagers, surrounded by beautiful mountain views. They offer short hikes to nearby villages, which can be a great prelude to a longer trek.
At the end a trek around Annapurnas: The Narchyang Community Homestay is situated just opposite Tatopani, famous for the Narchyang Waterfalls and its natural hot springs, which are just a short hike away from the homestay.
And remember, with multiple homestays helping to support the communities in each location, CHN can cater for single travellers, couples and groups.
The luxury traveller looking for authentic day experiences
We appreciate that for a lot of luxury travellers the accommodation offered by our homestays may be considered a little too simple. But you can still support our communities, whist offering truly authentic experiences which will enhance your clients’ journey through Nepal. We have half day and full day experiences and excursions which can be worked into their itineraries. These range from cycle rides to day treks to momo making to learning how to write in the local script. All of these take place in destinations around the one’s your clients will be familiar with, Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan, but a little away from the mainstream to offer a different perspective.
We’d be happy to discuss the options with you, but in the meantime, our collection of day experiences can be found here:
The Wildlife Traveller
We have community projects around both Chitwan and Bardiya National Parks which offer clients the opportunity to interact with the local communities who have spent their lives living at one with nature. Community Homestay Network offers both homestay accommodation and community led immersive experiences including Jeep safaris, canoe rides, jungle walks, bird watching and even a night in a machan!
The Sustainable Traveller
Most of the Homestay owners are women and housewives. The Community Homestay platform enables these women and their families, in local communities all over Nepal, to generate a sustainable livelihood from responsible tourism. They coach these ladies in Homestay Management, Hospitality, Basic English and provide ongoing training in areas such as teaching them how to interact with their foreign guests and exchange ideas and culture with visitors. By visiting these projects, you are truly impacting the communities. 20% goes to CHN for management ,marketing, training and development, 80%of the remainder goes directly to the host families and 20% to local community projects.
CHN is also a multi award winning project and are happy to share our commitment and philosophy with others wanting to set up in this field.
Click here for more information on Community Homestay Network
To explore how we can work together:
WhatsApp +44 7966025330
Email: experiences@indianexperiences.com