A night in a Dhotrey forest homestay

Homestays in Dhotrey are usually rooms in family houses or small cottages in the garden, simple and clean, with thick quilts and views over the fields or forest. Bathrooms may be shared, and hot water comes by bucket or a small geyser. Power can go off; carry a torch.

Dinner is home food: rice, dal, a vegetable curry, greens from the garden, pickle, and often an egg or chicken if you ask in advance. Breakfast is roti or bread, eggs and tea. Hosts are usually happy to talk about the village, farming and the trek.

Spend the late afternoon walking the village lanes and the forest edge. In the evening, the sky is dark and, on clear nights, full of stars. It is the kind of night that makes the trek feel less like a challenge and more like a visit.

Cost: ₹1,200–2,000 pp with meals