The Goat Village, a bouquet of farm retreats and home stays managed by The Green People, is an initiative having multiple social dimensions. Green People has partnered with locales across the state and managing them to create basic lifestyle experiences for visitors, promoting farm retreats/ home stays and reviving abandoned villages by leveraging their tourism potential.
Green People, which uses the tag, Happier Himalayan Villages, strives to work towards holistic rural development and reverse-migration of marginalised Himalayan farmers by providing them ecologically sustainable and long-term engagements through rural tourism, agriculture and related pursuits, and bridging the socio-cultural & economic gap between rural and urban India. The company has won many awards, including the ‘Indian Responsible Tourism Award 2019’, in just three years of its existence. The portfolio consists of 6 farm-retreats and home-stays across Uttarakhand.
Each cluster of these accommodation locations are engaged in goat farming and many other agro practices to provide a better livelihood to the locals, and to give a firsthand experience to tourists in basics of Life Sciences. The Goat Village NagTibba, Tehri Garhwal and The Goat Village Dayara Bugyal, Uttarkashi, both can comfortably accommodate up to 45 people and are suitable for solo travellers, families, kids, pets and different age-groups.
Within the farm stay premises, there are two common/dining areas and a kitchen that gets lit up on renewable solar energy during the night. Rest of the space doesn’t have electricity and uses candles and kerosene lamps in the evenings. For extra comfort, solar lamps can be provided during the nights. Hot water can be availed in buckets from a common, renewable resource.
Guests can indulge in the traditional indigenous stuff, milk the goats, read, get their hands dirty in the farming, go for treks or simply do nothing and chill.
People living around are native Himalayan farmer, goatherd and shepherd families who migrate to the higher pastures during the months of summers and monsoons and practice agriculture as source of livelihood.
The Goat Village NagTibba, Tehri Garhwal
The Goat Village, NagTibba is a traditionally curated and crafted haven in the hills of Garhwal. At around 7700 ft, the cottages are cosy and beautifully done up by the local artisans. Only locally available material has been put to use keeping the spirit of Green People’s mission from diluting. The site is the midpoint for a popular trek to NagTibba. The home stay serves local delicacies made by the Garhwali kitchen staff and all the produce used for cooking purposes is sourced locally.
The Goat Village Nag Tibba offers a total of 10 cottages and condominiums built in more than a 1000 year-old architectural technique called ‘Koti Banal’, which is indigenous to Garhwal Himalayas. The neat Garhwali cottages are best suited for the travellers wishing to experience the local way of life.
The Goat Village Dayara Bugyal, Uttarkashi
From the project manager to the farm butlers and guides – a rural women empowerment initiative, The Goat Village, Dayara Bugyal can be reached after a six hour drive from Dehradun, followed by a 400 metres walk. The richest snow hub in the bouquet of The Goat villages, this Himalayan retreat is situated at 7000 feet, and the accommodation is a mix of beautifully carved four wood, stone and glass cottages and condominiums. The place has provision for pitching cosy tents.
