Amaltari

Amaltari sits on the west bank of the Narayani in Nawalpur district, in the buffer zone around the national park. It's about 42 km from Bharatpur by road: you cross the river and turn off the highway near Kawasoti.

Two communities make up most of the village. The Tharu are the farming people of the lowland plains, known for their mud-walled houses painted with bold designs, their rice granaries and their lively stick dances. The Bote are a much smaller community whose lives have always been bound up with the river: fishing, building boats and ferrying people from one bank to the other.

The community homestay

Since 2013, families in Amaltari have run a community homestay. Around thirty households welcome guests into rooms built especially for visitors, and the money goes to the families and the wider community. You'll eat what your hosts eat, which usually means rice, lentils, vegetables from the fields and fish from the river.

What to do

• Wander through the village and fields with a local guide.
• Head out on the Narayani with Bote boatmen.
• Watch for birds along the riverbank and in the community forest.
• Enjoy a Tharu or Bote dance in the evening.
• Visit the small village museum of Tharu household objects.

Things to know

• Rooms are simple and clean, with shared or attached bathrooms depending on the house.
• Wild animals, rhino included, sometimes wander into the fields from the forest at night, so please don't walk outside the village after dark.
• A little Nepali goes a long way. Most hosts speak some English, but not all of them.

Both our Amaltari village day and A night by the Narayani take you there.