Herb Nepal

We had the luck to stumble on this unique social enterprise called Herb Nepal. Started by Ben and his young family, originally from the Netherlands, but with many years volunteering and working in Nepal, he has created an organic farm that grow herbs for soap as well as hosting guests in the well-appointed rammed earth and wood cottages. Hidden in the valleys outside of Bhaktapur, away from the smoke and noise of Kathmandu, we spent two lovely nights, ate delicious organic food and hiked through villages nearby. Herb Nepal is lead by Ben, but the whole team is made of local Nepalese and his farm is welcomed by the community as a way to keep young men employed in the village, instead of leaving for Malaysia for work. He tries to source all food and products locally, and the farm strives to be sustainable with the use of solar and biogas. It is a smart, mission led organization and I am so glad we experienced the magic. Our stay there even inspired talk of living on a farm when we return to Oregon.

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The cottages are in the distance
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View from our door
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View of the valley from our porch
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Morning coffee
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Enjoying coffee and peach juice
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Addie enjoying the swing
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Learning how to make Momos with head chef Sudipe

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Yummy Momos and lemonade
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Our hike high up in the valley to see the Himalayas
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Crossing nearby stream

3 thoughts on “Herb Nepal

  1. Thanks for another great post! I’ve got a question: the Nepalese seem to especially like brightly colored things. Some of the other countries do, too. Is there any particular reason or something inherent in Asian culture that led to this love and display of bright colors?

    On a totally different topic…I have a sneaking suspicion that Cork already knows this…but the Blazers are in the midst of a 12 game win streak in which they are playing as well as any team in the NBA. I’m not sure what it says about our world that you could be in the remote Himalayas and still know how your basketball team is doing…but just in case you haven’t been keeping up with American hoops news, I thought I’d tell you how fun it is to see so many of these players performing better than ever. Not sure yet if it’s just a hot streak, but it’s been a while since any of MY teams have played at a level that made me blink my eyes in wonder.

    I know this is not as interesting as the making of momo’s in Nepal, but I just thought I’d mention it.

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  2. If you are serious about farm life when you return to OR, there is plenty of that all around our quiet little town of Independence. Also a little airport (there are rows of houses with huge garages filled with little private planes) so you can get a flight to the next little town! I know, can’t compare, but maybe Portland will be too hustly-bustly after your serene adventure. We leave for UK, Dublin, and Germany in a few weeks, hope we’ll see you soon after all your and our travels in opposite directions.

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