The money from Homestays is very helpful for us. While some of the men go with pack horses during summer the money comes only towards the end of the tourist season or the following year. The money from Homestays, on the contrary, is instant cash and comes directly to us women at home. We are able to send our children to boarding schools near Leh for a good education.
Tsering Dolkar
A Parachute Café operator boils spring water on a solar cooker.
Traditional Village Homestays
The Himalayan Homestay Program was initiated in 2001, in Hemis National Park, under a partnership between the Snow Leopard Conservancy, The Mountain Institute, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In the early planning stages of the program, Ladakhi villagers envisioned that: A traditional village-based Himalayan Homestay would maintain and share a traditional way of life and its values, provide traditional food, be based on eco-friendly concepts and require small amounts of investment for renovation not building.
The program aims to:
- Ensure that hosts —
- have developed the unique mountain experience,
- are obtaining a fair return for their services and investment
- Ensure that Homestays contribute to conserving local cultural and natural heritage
- Create a distinctive, authentic, reliable, tourist accommodation and experience – Homestay packages – for visitors in the world’s
highest mountain range.
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