Mount Mahabharat Homestay, Retreat and Farm

Hari Om! Namaste!

I am Kamal Nepal, owner, founder & operator of this retreat center & eco-organic farm. I'm 35 years old & live here with my family on this farm stay.

Great opportunity :
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If you want a cheap and beautiful place to stay without doing any volunteer work, we charge $16 USD per day. This includes 3 organic vegetarian/ vegan meals, tea, drinking water, milk, drinking water, free Wi-Fi, private room, daily yoga/meditation, hot shower, room heater (in cold season) and much more.....

We provide services to 10 travelers at a time. This place is a great destination for respectful, nature loving people who want to volunteer & enjoy spending time with us. We are sure that experiences you have here will be the one of most memorable moments in your life & ours!

***Accommodation***

Free 24 hour Wi-Fi, electricity, warm shower, campfire, fresh spring water, freshly harvested/ organic/vegetarian meals, yoga/meditation, mountain hiking, beautiful sunrise & sunset views, unpolluted environment and living conditions.

Our farm is located 44 km southeast from Kathmandu at an elevation of 2100m.

We live above a remote, small village on the edge of Mahabharat mountain range. The village is surrounded by green forest with special flowers. Here we have tranquility & silence! Listen to the sounds and silence of nature and practice meditation, cool off in a nearby mountain stream, and hike on clear days to see a 180 degree view of the beautiful Himalayas!

The top of Bethanchok Narayan Hill on Mahabharat range is at an elevation of 3018m & is the highest altitude in the district. From this point Mount Everest, Annapurna, Langtang, Ganesh, Jugal & 100 more Himalayan mountains can be seen. As well as the Mahabharat range, Chure Mountains, open spaces of Terai & Bihar in India. The Ladku River flows at an elevation of 1400m and sits between the boundaries of the two villages of Gorkholi & Kunekharka. You can pay homage to Lord Vishnu, the Hindu god at Narayanstan Temple. It takes two hours trekking to Bethanchok Narayan Hill & on the way we can visit a cave.

We have 25 kinds of different vegetables, more than 200 different herbs in this area. We have a small bee farm & our guests can have the real flavor of pure organic honey. We have a cow & a buffalo so we can offer guests fresh pure milk.

***Pricing***

Visitors need warm clothes for winter & light clothes for summer. Please dress modestly out of respect for our culture.
For volunteers who work (3-5 hours/day, 5 days/week), weather permitting, we charge $10 USD per day. Every 2 weeks volunteers get one day free of charge.
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For guests who don't work, we charge $16 USD per day
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Trekking/Hiking charge is $10 USA per day with water & food (free for volunteers).
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Guided yoga and meditation are donation based.
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We respectfully ask that no illegal drugs are brought or used here on our farm. This is for respect of the local community. Alcohol (taken responsibly) & tobacco are acceptable.

Quiet hours are 10pm - 7am

***Activities***

1. We need farm hands to cut & carry grass, plant, cut & collect herbs, plow, water, weeding & do other farm related chores like milking cows.
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2. We can always use some help from photographers, videographers & web developers.
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3. We also need help from volunteers who can do online marketing for the farm, home-stay and retreat.

4. We need yoga instructors.

5. We need volunteers to help update our social media as well.

***Perspective & Lifestyle***

Adhering to the famous proverb ‘Return to Nature’, I’m on a mission to make myself & others healthy through chemical free produce.
I'm at peace in my environment & want to share this sense of peacefulness with others. Mount Mahabharat is an extremely beautiful place that encompasses a lot of geographical diversity. I’d like to welcome people of the world to come & enjoy this together.
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I am against any form of violence towards others and all animals. I’m bound by belief and religious law. Avoiding distortions like smoking, alcoholism, non-vegetarianism & prostitution has liberated my life from problems & provided a sense of infinite peace through teachings of meditation, yoga & reflection. I experienced radical change in my thoughts when my faith taught me the meaning of sacrifice. Being content is greater than chasing desires.
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As a farmer I believe that it is essential what I produce should be beneficial to human health. So, being chemical free is vitally important. Stricken by poverty my forefathers couldn't afford chemicals. I am seeing the benefits of our past misfortunes now. Today, chemical induced produces have given rise to various diseases. Victims of the illness are then compelled to ingest further chemicals in the form of drugs.
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Nature has given us hundreds of herbs to fight against diseases, and as a child who grew up with those herbs, I’m saying to the world that man-made intervention can often be harmful to mankind and the environment but natural things often bring beauty and healing. Nature has taught me many things & inspired me to share them with the world. I’ve witnessed many benefits of natural growth.
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If all the nations of the world continue to produce pollution then the people of the world will lose access to clean air, fertile lands will continue to turn into desert, mountains will be snowless & human existence will be in further crisis. Therefore, to curb the current threat to the world it is necessary that the most conscious social life-form, humans, fight to protect our lands.
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In my opinion, the world’s greatest hero is he whose speech & character has uniformity & inspires those around him to become nature friendly.
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However, I don't want to discuss too much about this subject. Lastly, I expect creative comments & feedback from my website visitors, which will provide meaning to my personal aim as well as the proverb ‘Return to Nature’.

***About Dhunkharka***

The history of Dhunkharka is connected with a streak of tigers. According to legend, years ago when the place was an uninhabited mountain range, tigers used to live here. One day two people of Newari ethnicity from nearby settlement came to Parthali, near the boundaries of Dhunkharka & Chalal. From there they saw a tiger sleeping on an open space, which is now known as Narayantar. Based on what they saw, they named the place Dhunkharka. In Newari language, ‘Dhun’ means ‘Tiger’ and ‘Kharka” means ‘settlement’. Thus, Dhunkharka means ‘place of tiger settlement’ or ‘home of tigers’ in Newari.
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Today, 1500 households reside in this village. Agriculture is the primary occupation & the village produces 15000 liters of milk every day.


***New Update***
Opportunity to contribute herbal farms!

The Mahabharata hill at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level is a beautiful place where we are living. Tourism and agriculture are our main occupations. Due to pandemic of Covid-19, our main occupation, tourism, has been greatly affected and the traditional agricultural system here is only subsistence oriented, so survival is quite tough. Being poor with the natural assets is a shame, so we have to think twice. We know, this unfavorable situation can be another opportunity for transformation. We have enough and suitable land where valuable herbs can be grown naturally. We are making good plan on these land to run commercial herb farming and nursery as a farm stay which we want to make a sustainable profession.

Time has taught us that the profession of herbal production will be more stable in the world than any other profession. It is an essential commodity for the human beings.

The initial stages of every work are difficult, we are also going through the pain of giving birth to an important thing in this adverse situation and the upcoming project that will benefit the common human beings of the world.
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Anyone who likes this campaign can help us with 3 options:

1. Donation.
You can help by donating to this campaign. We welcome your invaluable donation.
2. Volunteering.
You can help with this campaign through your service where we will charge a small fee for your food accommodation.
3. Investment.
You can invest financially in our herb farm. Once production starts, we will refund your investment amount with bonus.

*****Our special programs*****

1. Mahabharata Hike:
Mahabharata Hike $10 per day (free for volunteers)

2. Special programs in Full moon
We organize a full moon retreat on Mahabharata mountain every full moon night. In which 360 degree view and 180 degree Himalaya view point camping at the top 3000 meters height of Mahabharata will be charged for $25 per night including tent, sleeping bag, campfire, dinner breakfast and drinking water.

3. Trekking
If you want to do trekking in Nepal then we are ready to serve you. To know more about us visit our official website https://mountmahabharat.com/service/trekking/ page.
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I am a Trekking Guide with required training and recognized by the Government of Nepal. I am able to organize trekking program in all routes of Nepal, its fee will be as prescribed by the Government of Nepal.
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During my trek, I have seen many trekkers who had to stop the trek midway due to various reasons. One of the reasons is lack of practice. For those who want to go on Trekking, we conduct regular practice up to 3000 meters where we make sure that there are no problems related to altitude as well as basic information.
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Consultation and preparation of necessary documents
We request the trekkers to complete the necessary process through the company as per the rules of Nepal government and start trekking. If some trekkers want to go solo or as a couple, we provide the necessary permits, TIMS CARD (Trekkers' Information Management Systems) and provide necessary consultation.

4. Camping
Camping at the top 3000 meters height of Mahabharat with 360 degree view and 180 degree Himalaya view point includes tent, sleeping bag, campfire, dinner breakfast and drinking water for $20 USD per night.

5 Yoga / meditation practice
You can use our yoga meditation room anytime for your yoga meditation. Daily yoga / pranayam / meditation has been practiced.

6 Tratak exercises
Do you want to know about hypnosis? It is a strange art or science. We practice on various aspects of regular tratak. It is an effective means of opening the third eye based on Tantra. If you want to practice effectively in this way, you have to practice regularly for three weeks, which will definitely bring positive changes in your life.

7 Natural Healing
People suffer for various reasons. We are ready to solve problems through hypnosis, reiki, mantra, tantra yoga, energy and identified herbs. The video of the treatment is at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=452IwllcoEs

***Our Mission***

Staying true to the proverb "Return to nature" in every sense, we work to make it a reality through meaningful development of a nature friendly network, cultivating nature friendly individuals and societies, and operating an ecosystem based tourism industry through economical utilization of our resources.

**How To Get To Our Place**

Option #1 Public Bus:
Take a bus from Ratna Bus Park (in front of Bir Hospital ) to Panauti. Buses are available every 5 minutes. Get on a bus before 1:00 pm so you can make it to Panauti in time for the next bus. The journey is about 1.5 hours. You pay 90 rupees. - At the Panauti bus park, get on a bus to Dhunkharka and message Kamal/Kushal (9801110861).The last bus leaves at 5:00pm. The journey is about 1.5 hours. Pay 75 rupees when you get off at the Dhungkharka Geldung Bazaar/town centre. We will meet you there and walk uphill with you for about 1 hour. If your baggage is heavy, let us know in advance and we can arrange a porter to carry it to our place.

Option #2 Taxi:
You can get a taxi from Kathmandu for 3500-4500 Nepali rupees at this time. Now you can come in a normal taxi, no need for a four wheeler.

Option #3 Private vehicle pickup:
We can arrange a private car from Kathmandu airport for $55 USD.
Safe travels!

Thank you very much!
Namaste!!!
Kamal

***Farming*** There are many secret herbs around the Mahabharat hill where our farm is located. Of these, more than 200 valuable herbs have been identified. We are commercially conserving and producing the herbs in this area, including the agricultural and forest areas. For this, we have set up a nursery with an agro-forest and herb farm. We invite foreign volunteers at the rate of 11 people per day for one year for this great campaign of producing more than hundred thousands plants per year and producing organic fruits and herbs which are in increasing demand in the world market. We firmly believe that this campaign will be worthwhile for you and us to do something to reduce the effects of climate change on the world