Home-stay tourism is in its infancy in
Nepal, but nevertheless is available and can be
experienced by anyone with the time and desire to live
life at the grass roots level. To experience Nepalese
rural life in its true sense it is possible to receive
an introduction into a village; to find a bed and food
in exchange for the appropriate sum of money, and then
experience the pleasure of learning the Nepalese
language and contributing to village life by offering
your own expertise by way of school teaching, veterinary
expertise, health and hygiene expertise; in other words
in any field of work of benefit to the village.
As yet there is no collective organization available to
coordinate such says, but many Kathmandu or Pokhara
based companies, organization or individuals would be
able to arrange such stay. |
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Special interest tourism also covers
the rural sector, by allowing the tourist to discover
and learn about the daily life of the farmer. Single,
couple or group tourist can experience rural life by
visiting farms, have a meal with a Nepalese family, and
learn about their livestock and agricultural practices.
In Nepal there are three types of farmers; the ones on
the roadside or at a road head who are able to sell
their product to a wider market; those who are 4-6
kilometers walk from a road, both of which could be
considered this commercial farmers; those outside this
range who are subsistence farmers who may sell or trade
with their neighbors or the nearby village.
Nepalese farming is multi-faceted with few specializing;
rather they rear goats for meat; use buffalo and oxen as
a work animal and sometimes the buffalo for milk; and
they grow rice, maize, mustard and wheat. The altitude
controls their choice of agricultural products, with the
higher altitudes bearing maize and millet, and the rice
grown at lower altitudes.
Land use patterns or farming and forestry systems may be
of interest to visitors and all these can be
incorporated into a visit or stay in a region.
Many institutions and organizations are working in the
field to assist user groups in rural Nepal to utilize
their land; they are supporting local communities (men
and women) to organize self-governing institutions such
as user groups, user committees, functional
organizations and buffer zone development councils to
undertake conservation and development activities. These
groups are particularly active on the edges of national
parks and protected areas, to help to local inhabitants
to live in harmony with their neighbors, the natural
habitat.
Many farming communities are living and working side in
culturally sensitive areas, where monuments, temples and
monasteries are standing and surviving in the forests
alongside the farmers and their animals, plus in the
wild and unprotected and inaccessible areas of Nepal.
Banking systems and the rural methods of lending, where
the banks lend (in the field) small loans to small
collective projects and groups, can be seen first hand.
Particularly, rural women have benefited from these
schemes and have proven to be reliable borrowers and
successful entrepreneurs.
Rural Nepalese are keen to learn about the need for
collective strength, and to learn new ways to contribute
to the economy but also to enhance and better their own
circumstances and that of their children. |