Village Homestays

The homestays worth doing are inside the villages, not on the edge of town. In Hong and Hari, the big Apatani villages near Ziro, you stay in bamboo-and-timber houses with a central hearth and eat what the family eats — rice, smoked meat, fermented greens, rice beer if you want it. Thembang, a fortified Monpa village above Dirang, has restored several of its old stone houses for guests, with the income going back into conservation of the dzong itself.

Expect basic comfort: clean bedding, a squat or simple Western toilet, hot water by the bucket in some houses. What you get in return is unhurried time with a family, a slower read on daily life, and money that stays in the village. A few words of the local language and a willingness to help in the kitchen go a long way.