Stay near the hidden heritage site
Stay near the hidden heritage site
Live in a village that grows organic Apples, practices ancestral artistry and preserves their cultural roots
Tsogsty is a beautiful village in Hemis national park. The village is surrounded by apple orchids, apricot and walnut farms, and a water spring flows just beside it. The village has four beautiful houses in the middle of the colourful barren mountains. In this village, you can also meet the copper metal artisans who still practice this ancient art. Experience a stay at this vibrant village.
Guests like to eat our Ladakhi food. They say it is delicious, even when it is prepared by an elderly ama (mother) like me. I always make sure I serve them the cleanest and healthiest food. My husband is a copper artist. When guests leave us, they say ‘Julley’, and hug us. It makes us feel happy.
I became a Mountain Homestay Host in 2018, and I have hosted many travellers since then. Running a homestay has helped me and my family a lot. Not only is the solar set up in our house useful for us, but even travellers prefer to stay in our homestay because of it.
The training we got in astronomy turned out to be a life-changing experience for our village. I felt happy and proud while mapping the position of the planets and sharing the secrets of the universe with the tourists. Tourists told me that even they didn’t know so much about the dark skies!
If you want to experience local tranquility in a very simple home-stay in a traditional village – this is your place to be! …take a guide with you, to assist with translation, if you want to learn more about the village, its people and culture. Transportation easiest arranged via Gaganpreet as well.
We were 8 adults and 8 children, All of us had the best moments in this place. Village in itself is so peaceful and beautiful! Villagers served us healthy and tasty home made food with affection , In fact they allowed us in kitchen to learn their cuisines, Vegetables were so fresh because they were grown in their own farms organically. Rooms, Beds and blankets were neat and clean. When ever we requested for hot water it was there in the very next moment. To express in one sentence We could feel the right meaning of ‘Athidi Devo Bhava’ :-). Thanks to GHE ( Global Himalayan Expedition) for such a innovative thought of village home stays and local experience. Children in our group are now more aware of what is tourism and how it is supposed to be!
We were then arranged to live at Tsogsti Apricot Village instead. The place overlooks the Zanskar River and valley and is very close to the confluence. When we reached there we, we couldn’t believe where we were. This green patch in the middle of the mountains in a desert. It was heaven on earth. 6 of us were divided into 3 homes and each host was so loving and hospitable.
