Join a small group of like-minded travelers on a beautiful journey through the untouched Himalayas - the land of Mysteries. An adventure where you will experience authentic Indian Himalayan traditions, cultures, food and handicrafts while uplifting the lives of locals.
We invite you to go through this mesmerizing journey of forests filled with wild flowers, butterflies, stunning mountain trails, lush green forests, sparkling waterfalls, peaceful meadows with towering peaks, relish organic local cuisine, look at the stars while listening to the stream of water, visit charming villages, try your hand at making local handicrafts, dance and sing around the fire with locals, dining at villager’s home Himalayan style, glorious sunsets and much more. During the trip, we'll stay with a local family at their unique Bed & Breakfast and spend 2 magical nights under the stars at a fairytale camp (in a forest house or tent).
Our experienes cannot be explained in words, this is something you will feel and capture in your hearts. Your visit will also directly support the Fernweh/Bachan empowerment project for underprivileged women and untouchable tribes, in addition to environmental and educational projects.
Right for You?
Details
- Early in the morning, we will head to Gopeshwar closer to the Tibetan border on our 4 wheel jeeps. We will drive next to Ganga river; the holiest river of India.
- We will stop on the way next to Ganga river for refreshments and sightseeing. We will reach Peaches and Pears an eco-friendly B&B 3 km out of Gopeshwar. This is going to be our home base for the trip. We will stay with a Himalayan family and enjoy organic homemade food: vegetables, grains, rice, milk, eggs and fruits from the family’s garden/animal shed.
- Receive a traditional welcome to the Himalayas.
- After refreshments, we will relax a bit and in the evening we will go for a hike to the top of a hill in a neighboring village to enjoy the stunning sunset and the views of the Gopeshwar area.
- Dinner under the stars. Overnight: Peaches and Pears B&B
- After breakfast, we will explore the village - discovering beautiful old architecture and to see the daily life of vilagers. We will speak to a few villagers and exchange stories (they are also curious)
- Visit to the local school, and lunch at a local community member's house.
- Take a tour through the village and farms.
- After our day in the village, we will go to explore the hidden waterfalls and swimming holes. This is a beautiful nature discovery trek; we will talk about Fauna and Flora of the area.
- We will have our freshly prepared home-made organic dinner around the fire.
- Today, you'll trek to Tibetan villages - home of incredible hand crafts. Here, we will meet the artisans, and will be able to participate in making the handicrafts! Plus, you have the chance to buy the products directly from the artisans.
- Lunch at a young community member's house, supported by our empowerment project.
- We do a bonfire in the evening and sit around enjoying our dinner with our host family, while listening to the local legends.
- We will head to a quaint river village called Koteshwar, Mandal. This village has amazing beauty to it - with lush green rice fields, bamboos forests, and a crystal clear river running through it.
- The village has different hues of blues and green houses. We will stop at one of these houses to have our lunch, with an incredible view. After our lunch, we will continue our walk next to the river.
- Back to our homestay for steaming hot chai and Choti Diwali celebration.
- After breakfast, we will head over to the local market to buy ingredients for our cooking course and gather fresh veggies and herbs from the house garden.
- After this, we are going to have our Indian Himalayan cooking course with our host. We will all cook and enjoy our fruits of labor together.
- We will prepare some sweets and rangoli (colourful pattern on the floor with flowers, spices and colours) for our Diwali celebration.
- In the evening we will all celebrate Diwali with the family and villagers. We will be bursting fire crackers, lighting diyas / candles, eating local delicacies and join a traditional Himalayan dance with the locals. Overnight: Peaches and Pears B&B
- After breakfast we will head off to our next destination in Chopta. We will drive through beautiful green villages and the beautiful Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, and we will see plenty of birds and wild life on our way. Here we will stay in a fairy-tale spot next to a beautiful stream. Just by being at this spot you will feel energized and start dreaming. Chopta is the most Picturesque spot in Uttarakhand and still quite untouched. Accommodation choices are either tents or rooms, but staying in a tent in this area is magical.
- We will head to Sari for our Himalayan lake trek. We will trek from Sari village to Deoriatal situated at 2438 meters, it is a beautiful lake with its pristine waters captivating the eternal beauty of Chaukamba 4-3-2, Kedar and Neelkanth peaks. The area is surrounded by forests and green-lands and is one of the most scenic spots to catch breath-taking views of majestic peaks of Garwal Himalayas, Chaukamba being 7138 meters.
- Back to Chopta camp for dinner under the stars. Overnight: Chopta Camp (option to stay in forest house or in tents)
- You will wake up to a breath-taking view of the forest. Forest fairies are supposed to be in Chopta according to local beliefs.
- After Breakfast we trek to Tungnath means "Lord of the peaks", it’s a stunning trek of 3.5 km which takes us to the snow clad peaks and the Tungnath temple. Magnificent in its architectural and artistic structure, Tungnath is considered to be more than 1000 years old. Located at a high altitude (3,680 m) in the midst of forests, this place is mostly unexplored by travelers. This area is famous for its rich flora-fauna and serene beauty.
- We will have lunch here and enthusiastic trekkers can climb another 1.5km steep climb to the Chandershila summit (4000 m) to have majestic views of the Himalayan snow peaks including Trishula, Nanda devil (7816 meters highest peak in India) and Chaukhamba. We will start from 2700 m (Chopta) to 4000 m (Chandershila).
- On our way down from Tungnath to Chopta we will be armed with gloves and garbage bags. This will be our contribution to the Himalayas we will collect trash on our way down, this clean drive will be organised by Fernweh Fair Travel and our host Peace trips project. Overnight: Chopta Camp (option to stay in forest house or in tents)
- After breakfast we go for a 13km trek to Atri muni caves and temple. You will visit an ancient cave of Atri rishi where you will be mesmerized by a beautiful waterfall (70mt). We will go through amazing villages, forests, fields, river paths, temples, meadows etc.
- We will have our lunch here and then will head back to Gopeshwar for a relaxing evening around the fire for a freshly home cooked hot organic meal.
- Today, we will visit a very picturesque ancient Temple in a beautiful natural setting. This is one of the 2 temples in the world where Shiva and Shakti are together. It is a divine union of consciousness and energy. We will participate in the temple aarti with the head of the priest.
- After the temple we will visit a project run by retired Army men to save the ecology by planting new plants/trees. We have lent them our land (rent free) to continue this project.
- After lunch, we will have free time to explore.
- After breakfast, we start our drive towards Rishikesh. On our way we will do some sightseeing, one of our stops will be Devprayag- Ganga river, the sacred Indian river officially starts at this point. Here you will see the beautiful shades of blue of the river Bhagirathi and river Alaknanda as they unite to form river Ganges.
- Drop off at Rishikesh and time to say goodbyes!
- Depart for your next destination.
What's Included
Traveler Reviews
Uplifting communities and helping in rural and sustainable tourism is the core aim of Fernweh Fair Travel. Over the course of our program, we visited remote village schools and a handicraft village. Poonam's team comprises of locals and thats where Fernweh Fair Travel is doing a great job : By empowering communities itself. This is the way forward for Garhwal and also for everyone to see how tourism can benefit from the grassroots level if done the right way.
Shubham Mansingka, March 2018
Great local experience! Poonam is very active helping local kids at school, underpriviliged women, the untouchable cast and the environment with the Green Task force. So many great initiatives and a great cultural learning experience!
Daniel Jakob, March 2018
We had a great journey and could participate in the traditional Indian life and the magnificant landscape north of India. While living with the local families Fernweh Travel introduced us in their daily life one would never see during a "normal" traveller visiting India...I would always take another chance to do such a trip.
Jens Heinke
Your Local Host
Fernweh Fair Travel
Locally Owned Nonprofit
Fernweh Fair Travel offers authentic connections to Himalayan culture and unique adventures to little-visited natural wonders - all of which support efforts to empower local women, untouchable tribes and their community. Travelers can choose to relax at one of their beautiful homestays, head out on a trekking tour or visit their boutique shop to browse goods from local artisans.
Getting There
