Last year, I was invited to take a special trip to explore uncommon locations of hidden beauty in places that people wouldn’t instantly associate with Nepal. I travelled to the remote north-western corner of the country to visit indigenous communities of which we still know so little.

I stayed in the guestrooms of families who had never met foreign visitors, communicated without a common language and walked in wild places with expert local guides who had knowledge to fill an entire library.

Beyond walking the unpaved paths of tranquil rural roads, I soon realised that I was also travelling to places for which a map hadn’t yet been drawn. Here is the story of that unusual experience – another attempt to expand the image of a country by adding cultural layers to the traditional map.

I’ve structured my story following the stops of my journey on that revealing and enriching trip organised by Community Homestay Network - CHN in May 2024, and the charming encounters that occurred.

Bhada Community

“I am from the Tharu ethnic group myself and in our community, in the South, we consider this a Heritage village”.

With these words, our guide, Manav, introduced me to the Bhada community we were about to reach and stay in, a traditional Tharu village a few kilometres from Dhangadhi. We were exposed to the local culture in several ways, but the most memorable happened in a collective moment the evening before my group’s departure.

While a warm sun was setting in the village, lively arrangements were taking place for the event of the day. Yellow veils floating and silver jewellery shining: the women were gathering. Some of them stand like princesses adorned with their traditional jewellery resting royally on their foreheads and chests. Some gave my camera a solemn look while I was trying to capture their radiant beauty, others shared a disarming, sweet smile, held behind shy eyes. For the first time, they were about to perform in front of a group of international visitors.

Full of excitement, and perhaps embarrassment, they were preparing themselves for the traditional dances they usually execute in front of the other members of their village to celebrate a wedding or another social or religious event. The yellow veils started to move, elegantly held by the hands of the dancers and lifted to the rhythm of the colourful drums that one of the elderly ladies was bringing to the centre of the courtyard where we were sitting.

In front of our eyes, different kinds of ceremonial dances took place. These dances are an integral part of their traditions, and although they were out of context, they were strictly performed as is the custom on those occasions. We received guarantee that no adaptations or changes were made for the tourists.

With extremely precise and rapid movements of their hands, the ladies were creating strong melodies all around us. While pirouetting, they were bringing together different kinds of bells and the notorious wooden sticks of the renowned dance. Their instruments were constantly changing, appearing and disappearing almost magically among the veils and the brightly coloured long skirts at each new dance.

The rhythms were festive and engaging, and it wasn’t hard to imagine how easily they would gather and keep the whole village together for hours. No surprise that many of us ended up giving in to the seduction of the music by filling the gaps of their formation, trying to copy with clumsy but enjoyable effort, their elegant twirls.

The following morning, our van waited in front of each one of the homestays where the group of participants had been accommodated. Many were the hugs and the signs of gratitude exchanged with the relative hosts. By the time we left for our next stop, the inside of the van had changed colours. Each neck and each seat were now adorned with goodbye presents from our lovely hosts: shiny garlands of different fresh flowers, so that it appeared to me somehow were carrying the joyful notes from the previous night with us.

(‘Part 2’ to follow…)

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(This blog has been written by Elisa Spampinato, a travel writer & Community Storyteller, CEO & Founder at Traveller Storyteller. Photo Credits by Elisa Spampinato)

Explore Undiscovered Terai (Part 1)