Pilgrims and other visitors to Korphu Gewog in Trongsa have better accommodation options now. The gewog has two certified homestays. Korphu does not have hotels or resorts and homestays are the only alternative to spend the night in the village. Korphu is about an hour’s drive on the Gewog Centre Road from the Trongsa-Gelephu highway.
Gembo Dorji from Korphu in Trongsa is the first person in his village to run a homestay. The 40-year-old started the business with the help of the Royal Society for Protection of Nature.
Gembo says he decided to run the homestay after noticing that many pilgrims and other travellers visiting Korphu are struggling to find a suitable place to spend the night.
Today, his homestay has all the basic amenities required for a comfortable stay, offering scenic views of the village and sacred sites of Nabji.
“Before we did not make any income from visitors. Pilgrims come here to visit the sacred sites and then go back to their stations at the end of the day without having a proper place to spend the night in the village as we didn’t have homestays. We did not think of earning income from running homestays. But now, realising that our village is considered one of the places blessed by Guru Rinpoche in addition to being the birthplace of Pedling lama, we are hoping that more people will visit and stay in our homestays thereby helping us earn income.”
Gembo added that besides its religious and spiritual significance, Korphu village is known for its hospitality making it the perfect place to learn and experience rural life.
“The main objective of establishing a homestay here is so that we can benefit from the upcoming Gelephu Mindfulness City. As Korphu is located near Gelephu, we are hopeful that people will visit our place for pilgrimage or as tourists. That will help generate income for us in the future.”
The homestay business is in its emerging stage in Trongsa. Nabji, a beautiful village opposite Korphu also has homestays with the latest amenities. A certified homestay owner of Nabji said, last year, he hosted around 50 local and international tourists.
With visitors to the village increasing over the years, residents of Korphu and Nabji are gradually beginning to see homestay business as an additional source of income. Being the largest producers of cardamom, the villagers here depend on the production of the priced spice as their main source of cash income.
Pema Samdrup, Trongsa
Edited by Phub Gyem
