Explore the Kathmandu Valley through a homestay tour, Nepal

Dinogo Planet writer Joe Bindloss recently ventured through Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, experiencing community-run homestays. Here, he shares valuable tips and insights for those planning a similar journey.

For many travelers arriving at the hill-surrounded airport in Kathmandu, Nepal is primarily about trekking, especially along the stunning paths winding around Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) and the Annapurna and Manaslu ranges. While the mountains are undeniably breathtaking, above the snowline, you’ll find mainly rocks and ice. The true cultural essence of Nepal resides in the Middle Hills, the lush highlands that separate the Himalayas from the Terai plains, and it was this area I sought to explore more deeply.

The three historic city-states of the Kathmandu Valley – Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur – are well-known among travelers for their grand temples and medieval squares. However, I wanted to venture beyond the usual tourist spots and discover how local people lived away from the lens of the camera.

Staying in community-run homestays throughout the valley offered a glimpse into a different Nepal, far removed from the hustle of trekking trails. Instead of mountain passes and trekking conversations, I participated in community dances, joined temple excursions, helped out during meals, and engaged in traditional crafts, all while learning about Nepal through the eyes of its people. Here’s what I found out.

Where did you stay? What was the atmosphere like?

Traveling through the valley from Kathmandu to Thimi, Bhaktapur, Nagarkot, Namobuddha, Panuati, and Kirtipur, I spent nights at various family-run homestays, organized by the Community Homestay Network in Kathmandu. This innovative organization aims to channel tourism income back to rural communities, with control of the project resting in the hands of local women, many of whom gained financial independence for the first time through this network.

In the hilltop village of Nagarkot, I was welcomed for several nights by Sarada Bastola and her son Anup, staying in a cozy, simply adorned bedroom within their family shophouse, which replaced their mudbrick farmhouse lost in the 2015 Nepal earthquake. It felt like staying with friends of friends—we shared a bathroom and enjoyed home-cooked meals (mostly from vegetables grown locally) together in the family kitchen or on the rooftop.

I spent a night in more traditional accommodations to be near the hilltop Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery at Namobuddha, staying in a charming Nepali-style cottage at Namobuddha Resort. My room overlooked a vibrant tropical garden alive with barbets, woodpeckers, drongos, bulbuls, babblers, flycatchers, and other Himalayan birds. The multi-voiced dawn chorus was truly remarkable!

In Panauti, my hosts were Ruku Shrestha and her children, Aaditya and Jyoti, who welcomed me into their spacious room in their home near the bazaar, right next to the homestay association’s social hall. It was a captivating glimpse into the strong community spirit of this small town. While juggling my stay and sending the kids off to college, Ruku was busy around the neighborhood, aiding other local women through a community project focused on microloans and cooperative labor.

What was the most delicious thing you tried?

Anyone who visits Nepal becomes enamored with momos, the beloved local dumplings, but the magic multiplies when you get to make them yourself. A highlight of the Community Homestay experience is learning from locals, and my hosts in Panauti dedicated an evening to teaching me how to create the perfect momo.

In fact, I didn’t just make a single momo; I ended up crafting dozens! While the matriarch Ruku chopped the ingredients, Aaditya and Jyoti guided me through the essential steps of momo-making, starting with mixing a large bowl of minced buffalo meat, vegetables, and momo masala—the special blend of Nepali spices that gives these dumplings their unique flavor.

Next, we prepared the momo wrappers from a simple dough made of wheat flour and water. We quickly established an efficient assembly line, with Jyoti dividing the dough into balls, Aaditya rolling them flat with a small pin, and the three of us filling the wrappers and pinching them closed to create neat little parcels.

Admittedly, mine resembled tortellini more than the traditional 'drawstring bag' shape, but after a quick steam, they turned out delicious.

What was the most unexpected activity you enjoyed?

I had the opportunity to learn how to throw a clay pot in the pottery-making village of Thimi. While nearby Bhaktapur is renowned for its pottery, with an entire medieval square dedicated to potters, many of the finest artisans hail from Thimi. I attended a morning class led by the owner of NP Ceramics to grasp the fundamentals of this traditional craft.

My instructor, Nara Bhakta Prajapati, started by crafting traditional water ewers and deity-decorated flowerpots before advancing to high-quality, wheel-spun ceramics. He guided our small group of novices through the process of making a wheel-turned bowl from local clay sourced from the Kathmandu Valley's glacial deposits.

In practice, throwing a pot proved more challenging than it seemed, but Nara was a patient and attentive teacher, stepping in to adjust uneven edges and thin out thick pot rims. With a bit of help, I was able to create a reasonably round pot, which was then dried, fired in the village's communal kilns, and sent to me in Kathmandu at the end of my journey.

What was your favorite activity during the trip?

Being guided through the landscape by locals was a true highlight of my journey. In Nagarkot, as I walked along the ridge from the village’s Buddha Peace Park with my homestay host Anup, I experienced the countryside from a Nepali perspective, with far fewer tourists than on many of the popular trekking trails I've encountered. The predominant sound during our walk was not the clinking of trekking poles, but the bubbling of metal stills, used by farmers to distill raksi—the local moonshine made from fermented millet.

As we paused to enjoy a glass of raksi at a nearby farm, Anup shared the story of how close his family came to tragedy during the 2015 earthquake. 'We were in the fields when it hit. My mother hurried home to free the cows from the shed, but the second tremor destroyed both the cow shed and our house. Thankfully, no one in our community was hurt; we were very fortunate,' he recounted.

Thin, gray clouds cloaked the ridge, obscuring any Himalayan views, but I enjoyed wandering through serene gaun (villages) accompanied by the melodic calls of Nepali cuckoos. I also had the opportunity to forage for wild foods along the hedgerows. 'When the cuckoo sings, the kafal fruit is ripe,' my guide cheerfully declared, picking tart, raspberry-colored berries from the branches that dangled by the path.

The following day, we continued our trek toward Namobuddha, traversing Nagarkot’s community forest along a thick layer of rust-red pine needles. True to Nepal's charm, we crossed swaying suspension bridges, navigated ridges, and scrambled up steep inclines, all while enveloped in a profound sense of tranquility. As we walked, we admired sweeping views of the peaceful countryside and encountered groups of red-robed village women singing as they collected fodder in the soft, pre-monsoon light.

What was something you didn't expect?

Creating my own dinner plate from leaves and bamboo was a delightful surprise! In Nagarkot, the Bastola family members taught me how to craft plates for breakfast by stitching together sal tree leaves using 'staples' made from slender bamboo strips. Completely biodegradable, these eco-friendly plates came with the added perk of no dishes to clean after enjoying a delicious morning feast of aloo jeera (potatoes with cumin), curd, chapati flatbreads, and Himalayan honey.

It was truly enlightening to witness how people in Nepal lived before the advent of single-use plastic packaging. It was heartening to observe sustainable practices upheld throughout the Community Homestay network, with waste being sorted for recycling and drinking water bottles being refilled from purified communal sources.

How did you navigate your way around?

I traveled from village to village using buses, walking, or cycling. One of the highlights was mountain biking downhill from Namobuddha to Panauti. Guided by a representative from the community-run rental service Cycle Station, I navigated winding country lanes and steep dirt paths from the monastery gates, eventually arriving at the terraced rice fields at the base of Panauti.

Multiple times, my guide reassured me that there would be no more hills, only for us to tackle yet another ascent. In Nepal, any mountain without snow is simply termed a 'hill,' meaning even a slight incline isn’t taken lightly. However, the effort of climbing was more than compensated by the exhilarating rush of coasting downhill through the terraces.

The colors were absolutely stunning. Surrounding me were vibrant green hills framed by a watercolor backdrop of mottled gray-blue clouds, with shimmering pools in the cascading rice terraces reflecting women in crimson kurta suruwal pajamas planting rice in preparation for the monsoon. I concluded my ride in the courtyard of Panauti’s magnificent three-tiered Indreshwar Mahadev temple, feeling utterly elated.

What was the most touristy experience you had?

I climbed to the hilltop stupa of Swayambhunath upon returning to Kathmandu – but what’s considered touristy in Nepal differs greatly from places like New York or Hong Kong. Here, foreign tourists at Kathmandu’s iconic shrine are often outnumbered by Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims, alongside local sightseers, with the stairs being thronged by numerous rhesus macaques.

Swayambhunath was among my first stops as a young backpacker in the 1990s, and I return each time to rekindle that sense of awe. Little has changed – monkeys still scramble across the structures, pilgrims spin prayer wheels, colorful flags dance in the Himalayan winds, and the serene gaze of Buddha watches over the valley from the stupa’s golden spire. It’s a miniature version of Nepal.

Joe visited Nepal at the invitation of the Community Homestay Network. Dinogo Planet does not accept free services in exchange for favorable coverage.

Here’s more expert guidance to assist you in planning your trip to Nepal.

11 budget-friendly tips for exploring Nepal Beyond the mountains: must-do activities in Nepal What’s the ideal time to visit Nepal?