Uttarey: # Where Heritage Lives At Home

COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN UTTAREY BRIDGES HERITAGE, HOMESTAYS, AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS FOR VISITORS

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At Sangdara, a Sherpa village in Uttarey, West Sikkim—five hours from Gangtok—wooden homes rest among terraced fields and prayer walls.

I stayed at Doma Sherpa Homestay, one of the first in the village, established in 2010. Doma Sherpa and her sister turned their ancestral house into a space that welcomes travellers curious about Sherpa culture and everyday life. “When I began, no one here knew what a homestay was,” she said, preparing butter tea over a wood stove. “Now, many families have joined in. Tourism has given us confidence that our homes and our heritage have value”.

The Sherpa people, known for their exceptional mountaineering skills and deep-rooted Buddhist faith, get their name from a term that means “Eastern People.” In Sikkim, they follow Tibetan Buddhism and celebrate festivals such as Losar and Mani Rimdu, which honour mountain deities. Life here follows the rhythm of the land: farming, yak rearing, and, increasingly, community-based tourism.