Shanta Ghar A Rustic Guesthouse

My friend and I stumbled onto a gem with this place. If you are looking to get off the tourist trail and experience something authentic- Shanti Ghar provides that. It is in the beautiful village of Madi. This is a real locals village. Everyone had a rice field, mills their own rice, and grows their own veggies. At shanti Ghar, you will stay in a beautiful home, built by Ari. You have the upstairs- it’s stunningly beautiful. Ari poured his soul into this place building it. It’s a work of art. On the ground floor of this home is Ari, his wife Dipa and their 15 year old son Dinesh. They are all great people. Ari is sparking with energy and enthusiasm and I loved to talk with him about all kinds of things- from the local wild life, local ways of growing food and building, to life philosophies- I left very inspired and gained much from these deep conversations. Dipa is an incredible cook- and when my friend and I wanted to learn from her, we got to watch her cook and Dinesh talked us through all the steps. This was a total bonus highlight. I highly recommend getting involved in the cooking- she’s incredible! We loved eating together with the family and let them know that is what we preferred. I’m sure they would respect your preference. We felt really embraced and part of the family. Yes of course we are exchanging money, but the relationship felt heartfelt and authentic, not transactional at all. It was a great experience after travelling so much and sometimes feeling like everything is transactional- this felt so genuine. We only planned to stay 2 nights but ended up staying 4- and honestly I want to stay more. When I come back to Nepal I will come again! Ari took us on a great jeep journey through Chitwan- he is an incredible guide! Shanti Ghar is further away than the main tourist town. It was a little bit of an adventure to get out there, but it was so worth it. If you want something real- head here! I talked to other travellers who just stayed in the main tourist town near chitwan and they were not nearly as impressed with their chitwan chapter as me. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the entire trip. So get off the main track and experience something deeper!

We’ve just stayed one week at Shanta Gahr. The hosts Hari, his wife Deepa and the rest of his family were very friendly. Deepa making delicious nepali food, and Hari helps you with everything you want to do, hiking, safari etc. Clean rooms, and western style toilets. Highly recommend this place, It’s a remote area, and that was what we where searching for. The real authentic nepali experience!