Twelve cottages and the women who own them
Like most Tharu villages around Chitwan, Barauli once lived from farming, fishing and the forest. When the park and its buffer zone took shape, families lost access to grass, firewood and grazing they had used for generations. Tourism brought jobs to Sauraha but little reached villages like Barauli on the far side of the river. The question for Barauli was how to earn from visitors without changing what made the village worth visiting.
The homestay was designed to change that. Traditional Tharu homes are small and not built for guests, so a cluster of purpose-built cottages went up instead, using mud, reed and thatch. Each was assigned to a village woman, who receives rent directly into her bank account and hosts the guests who stay. The project was set up with the Community Homestay Network. The cottages were given clean bathrooms and comfortable beds, so guests from abroad could stay without hardship.
Visitors now cycle the village lanes, cook in Tharu kitchens, watch the stick dance in the evening and walk to the Narayani for sunset. Money stays in the village, and women who had little income of their own manage it. Researchers and journalists have since studied the model as one way for tourism money to reach a park's neighbours. For guests, the result is a stay where you know exactly whose home you are in and where your money goes.
