Bhutan Home Stay and Farm Stay Experiences
Snowcat
Let's say that in your own home you had welcomed a "stranger from a strange land" just for one night.
What would the experience be over all for that stranger?
Would it be fair to say that when the stranger leaves that they are no longer a stranger, but have now become a friend?
What would that new found friend have enjoyed and experienced that they couldn't possibly have done so by staying in a hotel?
For a start it's more likely than not that this new friend enjoyed natural hospitality in your home.
For dinner you most probably would cook and serve a meal that relates directly to your own country and culture, or even more locally.
Beyond that wouldn't you most likely fully engage in conversation with this new friend and as in any conversation, well...who knows where it might go.
Whether you're sitting down together for dinner, or simply enjoying a chat later, there'll probably be a few laughs and a whole lot more.
No doubt your visitor will want to know more about life in your country in general and quite reasonably want to know more about more normal, "real" life in your country that transcends beyond the usual "touristy" type of stuff.
Most probably the knowledge your friend has acquired in just one evening about the country they are visiting as a tourist would be far greater than they could possibly have gained throughput the rest of their time exploring your country if they hadn't stepped out of "being a tourist" and become much more immersed.
The trendy word in use nowadays for this being, "experiential".
However, if it is you whom is the "stranger from a strange land" and are visiting Bhutan, then you too can enjoy the "experiential" yourself.
Even if it is just for one night, you can choose to stay with a "normal" Bhutanese family in their own traditionally Bhutanese family home.
Most of Bhutan is rural. Even Thimphu the capital city is very small with a population of around just 100,000 people.
So, as well as being able to enjoy the hospitality and "bonhomie" with a welcoming Bhutanese family, you can also get a sense of how things are in rural Bhutan too.
So, Snow Cat Travel has introduced a select few family homes where you can enjoy a real Bhutanese experience for yourself.
Some are rural homes, some are farmsteads and one is even "urban".
Of course these are real peoples homes and not hotels, so they vary a bit naturally. But, by and large describing them as "traditional" would be realistic.
All would provide you with a private bedroom. Sometimes the rooms will have a bed. Others are a bit more "sleep like a local" and would be a mattress on the floor itself.
Some have private bathrooms i.e. en suite as part of a private bedroom. Others don't, but still have shower and toilet facilities that would be shared with other guests, if there are any.
As for meals you'll find some have a sort of dining area for their guests e.g tables and chairs etc.
With others (and if the family is not too busy)....well, they'll often invite you to dine with them as "part of the family" too, which in a more traditional Bhutanese family home would be sitting around together (usually in a circle) on the floor and then pretty much everyone else just helps themselves to a number of home cooked typically Bhutanese dishes.
It's very informal and very relaxing and also entirely "normal". Eating with your hands (the traditional way in Bhutan) is of course entirely optional.
As for the "experiential" aspect as a whole.....who knows? Sometimes you've just gotta go with it and see where it goes.
Oh.....a couple of these home stays and farm stays even have their own Hot Stone Baths. No, they are not going to be like a hot stone bath you'll find in a 5* boutique hotels spa. They will of course be more rustic and indeed more traditional.
Our hand-picked home and farm stay options you can choose as part of your tailor made Bhutan tour are:
The Choying family in Paro.
The Damchoe family in Thimphu
Happiness Field Farm in Punakha with Aum Karma and her family
The Ngawang family in Bumthang
You can even go full on experiential on our suggested Bhutan Insights Tour, which features home and farm stays every night (if you wish).
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