A royal surprise in Nuwakot, Nepal

Our Himalayan Family Adventure holiday includes a stop at Nuwakot’s The Famous Farm, which now has a royal seal of approval, of sorts.

Trekkers explore the trails around Nuwakot while hiking in Nepal

Exploring Nuwakot

A trekker admires the view over Nuwakot. Photo: Nepal Trip Planner

You won’t find Nuwakot on the main tourist trails. Even trekkers venturing into the delightful Langtang Valley by road from Kathmandu usually miss Nuwakot. A detour through fragrant pine forests on a single-track road is required to reach this idyllic, rural village.

Thus, Nuwakot, lying high above the Trisuli River Valley, was just one of those places that visitors didn’t know about. Today, it remains unspoilt and still provides an authentic Nepalese experience.

You could say that The Famous Farm has put Nuwakot on the map. In some ways this is true, but of course this traditional hill village has been here a very long time. One of the oldest Hindu temples in Nepal, a former Royal Palace and an ancient fortress are all testimony to that.

More recently, the sleepy hill village has had a royal visitor, of sorts. Former King Gyanendra of Nepal stopped by The Famous Farm. Staff and visitors alike were both surprised and delighted with this almost-royal approval.

The former King was said to be impressed both with efforts to restore this past Newari Manor House to its previous architectural splendour, but also the positive impact The Famous Farm has had on the village of Nuwakot too.

Explore Nuwakot and The Famous Farm on our Himalayan Family Adventure. Find trip details here.

The Famous Farm, Nuwakot. Photo: Nepal Trip Planner

Nuwakot’s future

Our aim was to ensure The Famous Farm wasn’t going to change too much or attract hordes of visitors. In fact, you could say (and it has been said to us many times) that we were crazy to even think about not only restoring, but also converting into tourist accommodation, a dilapidated building where tourists weren’t even visiting.

While a select number of tourists do now travel to Nuwakot, the often undesirable consequences of tourism aren’t to be found. Life in the village has by and large remained unchanged, which is the real appeal of Nuwakot.

We achieved our dream of creating a country-style inn, although it took a few years of hard graft to get there. We wanted to ensure that much of the original Newari features could be retained, while using local craftsmen to enhance the traditional architectural style. All the bedrooms are en-suite but have a cosy, rustic appeal to them with traditional Nepalese styling.

Why The Famous Farm?

The locals named ‘The Famous Farm’ during the reconstruction and we liked it. In fact, we ran with that idea; today, visitors relaxing in the colourful gardens encounter small farmyard animals mooching around. It’s even home to some very cheeky goats.

While we have our own organic garden, we also ensure that as much of the produce is local is when creating tasty Nepali cuisine in our open kitchen. To further benefit the local community many members of staff are from the area and, being unused to the demands of tourism, we fully-trained them. Then again, friendly hospitality comes naturally to the Nepalese. Needless to say, we are actively involved in other projects that benefit the local community too.

Tourists who venture to this off-the-beaten-track location are made to feel welcome by the local people. Wandering freely around Nuwakot and experiencing hill village life is the main attraction. As The Famous Farm lies in the heart of the village, the real Nepal is literally on your doorstep.

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A bedroom at The Famous Farm Bedrooms are traditionally decorated at The Famous Farm. Photo: Nepal Trip Planner

An adventure for all ages

A visit to Nuwakot is an enlightening experience for families too. There’s no busy traffic and children can roam without worry, encountering many interesting aspects of Nepalese life.

As well as the only school in Nepal for deaf and mute children, Nuwakot is home to a general school that serves the greater area. The locals learn to speak English from an early age; when it comes to play time all children are readily welcomed to join in the fun and games. This provides educational and cultural experiences that are also great fun too.

Nuwakot is at a low altitude and has a southerly aspect too; meaning it’s usually a pleasant temperature all day. As the sun goes down there’s no better place to be than relaxing in the gardens of The Famous Farm, enjoying the views over the Trisuli River Valley far below.

Just make sure when you visit you set your watch to slow.

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We chose this trip specifically as we are regular hill walkers and had always wanted to hike in the Everest region of Nepal, but had been put off by tales of smelly, dirty accommodations whilst on trek, which at our age is no longer of appeal. Thus, it was the luxury trekking lodges themselves that prompted us to book and fulfil a life long desire to see Everest. The lodges did not disappoint us, in fact we were amazed that even the most remote and isolated ones were very good indeed. How they built and service these lodges is a story in itself. Some of them are many days of solid trekking from Lukla Airstrip, where we presumed many of the supplies come in from. Without exception we enjoyed very good food at each and every one and with surprisingly polite and courteous service too. Be able to dine in a dining room, invariably with incredible mountains towering above us was an experience in itself. But, even more so was the ability to retire each evening to the comforts of bed room with very nice beds and enjoy a peaceful nights sleep. No wriggling around in sleeping bags for us. We made sure we woke early each morning though as opening the curtains and gazing out of our bedroom window to see the Himalayas was pure joy. No ‘roughing it’ on this holiday and we can say without any doubt that a hot shower with the best mountain views in the world is simply sublime. We just wonder how they got the proper western style toilets up here, but they have and whilst these luxury lodges aren’t hotels in the proper sense they are all very comfortable and welcoming, especially after a day of trekking uphill and down in the Himalayas. As for the trekking, we found it rather straightforward although the hike up to Namche was long enough and we were glad of a rest after that. Getting our first tantalising glimpse of Everest as we huffed and puffed our way up to Namche spurred us on though. We also chose to book a private trek in order that we could walk at our own pace, stop when we wanted to rest, take photo’s, take refreshments at one of the local cafes along the way and enjoy a leisurely lunch etc. We’d been on group trips before and didn’t like the ‘having to keep up’ peer pressure. Naturally we had our own guide and porters too. Mind you, we only saw the porters in the mornings as once they are loaded they are off like rockets. But, they always had a smile on their faces and were at pains to make it clear that in their opinion they weren’t carrying much, even if we thought they were, especially compared to us with our teeny back packs. We were told by our guide (and we believe it) that the porters carrying our main bags would arrive at our next lodge some 2-3 hours ahead of us. Unbelievable. As for our guide, Prakash, he was simply wonderful. That he loves Nepal and being a guide was evident. Such boundless enthusiasm and a font of knowledge. Needless to say we all became very good friends and still keep in touch, but Prakash brought the mountains to life with his stories of various expeditions, as well as helping us learn a great deal about life in the Everest region too. Nothing was too much trouble for Prakash and when he learned that we were curious to see inside local homes, he’d get us invited in for tea and be translator too. It seemed that everyone knew Prakash! As for the mountains, what can we say? We’d seen lots of photo’s of the peaks in the Everest region, but nothing could prepare us for seeing them in real life. Naturally Everest is the one we wanted to see the most and it was wonderful too see it it as it rises high above Nuptse. We’d thought about trekking all the way to base camp, but as there are no luxury lodges that far up we’d already pre-booked an Everest flight so that we could see it even closer later on and we’re rather glad we did. However, Ama Dablam is the peak that we both fell in love with. We both felt the altitude a little further up from Namche, but Prakash made sure that we slowed down and drank more. His mantra of “if you aren’t getting up in the night for a pee, then you’re not drinking enough” still rings in my ears and of course he is right too. So, other than feeling a little breathless and a little more sluggish than usual, drinking a lot and walking at a slower pace seems to pay dividends. Whilst my husband found the flights to and from Lukla exciting, the landing and take off was rather scary for me. Thank goodness they are very short. But, we did take to the air again and the mountain flight up to Everest was breathtaking. Flying above where we had trekked was fascinating in itself, but seeing Everest from the air and so much closer really does give you a sense of the sheer scale of the Himalayas. We were happy to see our friend Ama Dablam for one last time too. As for Dwarika’s Hotel in Kathmandu, you were absolutely right. It is more an experience than a hotel. Luxurious yes, but so characterful that it feels like it has it’s own soul. To be perfectly honest, once we arrived back at Dwarika’s we never left the hotel until it was time to go to the airport. Quite simply, this was by far the best walking holiday we’ve ever been on. That may well be something to do with walking amongst the highest mountains in the world, but we both agreed when we got home that we had unashamedly fell in love with Nepal. The landscape is everything you hoped it would be and even more, but it’s the people within the landscape that makes Nepal what it is. Happy, cheerful, friendly, welcoming, hard working, determined are words that all apply, but they don’t do justice to the people of Nepal. We’ve certainly found that even at our age, our visit to Nepal has changed us and for the better to. Thank you Nepal.

Jeanie Nov 2019