Holidays IN Rural India
Holidays IN Rural India
Holidays in Rural India
Holidays in Rural India is a small travel company that creates meticulously researched, tailor made and small group holidays, in the heart of rural India.
We believe that guests and hosts, and the environment, benefit from longer stays in one or two carefully chosen locations.
Where possible, we work with NGOs and social enterprises, thereby supporting them, and giving us locally lead experiences, and sensitively informed engagement with communities.
We encourage local expeditions on foot or by cycle wherever possible.
‘one of the most exceptional adventures I've been privileged enough to enjoy … as a visitor to a country, it's hard to feel like you are truly within the community, but this trip was different, giving our small group a glimpse of genuine rural life’ Georgie and Simon, November 2022
We started in central India, and with its national parks, ancient monuments and diverse rural culture it is still the area of India to which we guide the largest number of our guests. Most of our guests spend a part of their stay at Shergarh Tented Camp, near Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. All our cycling holidays set off from here.
Shergarh’s ethics match ours; family run, with almost all the staff from the nearest village, a high proportion of whom are women. Many guests return again and again.
Shergarh balances stylish comfort with a level of care that makes guests feel at home. It has six canvas-walled tents with terracotta roofs, private verandas and modern bathrooms, beside the large lake or in amongst its 20 acres of naturally regenerated forest.
‘ ..heavenly Shergarh Tented Camp, with all its comfort and wildlife expertise and amazing al fresco communal meals. I swam in the lake, sketched at the village, watched the water buffalo immerse themselves in that same water, counted butterflies, went for night walks with resident naturalist Catherene, got up at the crack of dawn for safaris, saw deer and hornbills and jackals and turtles and a tiger and umpteen miraculous birds.’ Dinah November 2022 and January 2023
Shergarh is six kilometres from Mukki Gate, the southernmost entrance to Kanha national park. Safaris play a part in (though are not the sole focus of) almost of the trips we arrange. There is a huge variety of wildlife in beautiful Kanha, tiger sightings are not infrequent and there is nothing quite like the wonder of an encounter. Enter though with a curiosity about everything in this carefully preserved stretch of wilderness.
‘We had the privilege of spending over 20 magical minutes with a tiger mother and cub on our own in Kanha, with no other tourists around.’ Lucy, January 2023
And living cheek by jowl with the wildlife, there are the people. Many were moved from their villages when the national park was created.
Holidays in Rural India aims to give its guests an insight into the positive and negative aspects of life near a national park for the people in these largely indigenous (many pre-Hindu) communities.
We visit markets, we stop for tea and snacks in chai stalls (ringing ahead if need be, to ask for freshly fried samosas), and along the way all sorts of interactions inevitably take place. Where possible we walk or cycle, engaging with local NGOs and social enterprises where appropriate.
Once guests get familiar with short walking routes they repeat them alone, establishing independent connections.
‘We had an amazing and enjoyable trip and both agreed on one thing, that we really felt we were participating rather than observing as we have on previous occasions for much of the time.’ Caroline and Barry February 2020
For those prepared to put in a bit of road travel and who can cope with some more simple (but spotless) accommodation, Holidays in Rural India has re-started tours into Bastar.
This region of south eastern Chhattisgarh has managed to protect its rich indigenous culture from multiple pressures, including that of majority religions. The Gond communities here have a complex family of deities, and even a godly court where mis-behaving deities are brought and put on trial.
Time at our friend Shakeel’s homestay gives you a little bit of an experience of living in a Chhattisgarhi village (albeit with hot water and western bathrooms). There’s a huge amount of local craftwork in this area, from simple leaf bowls and bamboo baskets to the lost wax ‘dhokra’ (known more accurately in Bastar as ‘ghadva’) bell metal work.
The madai festivals in January and February are amazing if you chance upon one, and the yearly Bastar Dussehra a vast mela dedicated to the Gond goddess Danteshwari falls more predictably twenty days before Diwali.
‘You offer such an amazing and exhilarating slow journey into a magical world. It is a trip we will never forget.’ Alan and Helen Jan 2023
Holidays in Rural India is a ‘Rainmaker’ fundraiser for Frank Water (reg charity 1121273) and for guests who are interested in their work we can arrange a single night away from Shergarh into Chhattisgarh (accommodation is simple).
Here you have the extraordinary opportunity to see the impact of their work, the various structures and training programmes that have been put in place to support people whose access to safe sustainable water has been impacted by deforestation, development and climate change.
We also run a yearly Cycle for Safe Water which fund raises for Frank Water, and takes guests on a 300 km cycle ride visiting Frank’s work and cycling the outer circumference of Kanha Tiger Reserve. The 2022 ride raised £32,000/3 lakh rupees. Dates for 2024: 15th to 24th November.
I was able to be my best self in this completely new, wonderful but alien environment … it left me feeling safe, comfortable, crazily stimulated and happier than I’ve been for a long time.’ Abi Nov 2022
Central India has always been where Holidays in Rural India’s heart lies, and as a foreign run company, and despite thirty-five years of travel experience in many parts of India (and a reasonable grasp of spoken and written Hindi) we feel that focussing on what we know and love best gives us a better chance of sharing with other foreigners a deeper more engaged experience in this vast and complex country.
We can however help to plan holidays in other special parts of this enormously diverse country, and we ally with a few other like minded companies when working out of our well known patch.
All of our accommodation and experience providers are more than just business partners, they are friends. Holidays in Rural India’s guests invariably comment on the fact that this friendly connection embraces them when they travel with us.