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Fagunia Blog

A chronicle of our ideas, experiments, failures, learnings and small joys
26 Feb
0

Indian Responsible Tourism Award 2025 For Fagunia Farmstay

Fagunia Indian Responsible Tourism Award

We are happy to share that Fagunia Farmstay won the prestigious Indian Responsible Tourism Award 2025 (IRTA) for Sustainable Leadership in Homestays. Fagunia Farmstay was only one of 3 homestays from across India and the only homestay from Uttarakhand to receive this award this year.

Indian Responsible Tourism Awards

Now in its ninth year, IRTA is the flag bearer of travel that is gentle on the earth and invested in the growth and happiness of the local communities across India. IRTA is an initiative of the Outlook Magazine and its sister brands Outlook Traveller and Outlook Responsible Tourism.

The Indian Responsible Tourism Award 2025 selection was made by an esteemed jury headed by Jury President, Mr. Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and the former chief executive officer of NITI Aayog. The jury consisted of eminent experts from the responsible tourism space like Mr C. B. Ramkumar, Vice Chair; Global Sustainable Tourism Council; Ms Ritu Dalmia, Chef and Restaurateur; Mr Micheal Dominic, Managing Director, CGH Earth; Ms Malika Virdi, Former Sarpanch, Sarmoli–Jainti Van Panchayat, Munsiari, & Founder-Director, Himalayan Ark, and Mr Raj Basu, Co-founder, Help Tourism, & Advisor, Rural Tourism & Homestays, NE States, Myanmar, Bhutan & Nepal.

Fagunia-IRTA-Award

The 2025 Indian Responsible Tourism Summit and Awards event was held at the well-known Rann Utsav, Dhordo, Gujarat on 22 February 2025.

IRTA’s Sustainable Leadership in Homestays Award is given to a homestay that continues to be rooted in the local way of life, where the owners live on the property and share a kitchen with their guests; and practice simple, effective, replicable measures of sustainability, relevant to their location and scale.

What Next

This award will motivate us to build on our sustainable initiatives and continue to deliver experiential stays, social support initiatives and progress towards our goal of a sustainable, self-reliant, and self-sufficient future.

About Fagunia

Fagunia is a sustainable, solar powered homestead, founded and run by a Pahadi-Telugu couple, located in a remote hamlet near Nainital in the lower Himalayas of Uttarakhand in India. Fagunia hosts responsible travellers, farms using a permaculture approach, shares organic produce as small batch microlots, develops and implements social support initiatives, and curates bespoke experiences.

28 Jun
0

Pawsome Getaways: 5 Pet Friendly Homestays in Nainital

Are you looking for pet friendly homestays in Nainital where you can bring your furry friend along? Then, look no further than Nainital district in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Here, several homestays offer a warm welcome to pets.

Homestays: Home away from home

The ultimate accommodation choice for pet friendly travel is undoubtedly a homestay. With their cozy and inviting atmosphere, homestays create a home away from home where pets can feel comfortable and cherished. Moreover, unlike standard hotel rooms, homestays also offer ample space and privacy. This provides pets more room to move around, play and unwind.

With serene mountains, lush greenery, and a cool climate, the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand is a perfect destination to explore with your four-legged companion. If you’re planning a pet-friendly vacation, here are five pet friendly homestays in the picturesque Nainital district that you should consider for your upcoming trip.

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28 Mar
0

5 off beat things to do in Nainital

A lot of our guests ask us what is there to do in Nainital. While there is a lot to do there depending on your interests, here I share our 5 favorite off beat things to do in Nainital. These are of course not all the usual touristy things travelers usually do. But this is what we love to do. Perhaps, you would also be interested in this different way to experience the lake town on your next trip, while choosing to stay at Fagunia Farmstay.

Nainital is a very popular tourist destination in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. Located about 15 km from Fagunia Farmstay, at an altitude of approximately 1900m, it is also our primary destination for getting supplies. However, we visit it now only when required. Sadly, like most popular hill towns, it is plagued by over tourism that it can barely sustain.

If you can, do try to visit it during the off season, when the hidden charm of the town can be experienced in a more relaxed manner. This is what we do sometimes, visit leisurely in the non-tourist season and indulge in our favorite activities detailed below. And yes, as foodies, the bias here is towards food. The location of places that are being referred to, where available, are linked to in the titles.
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5 Jun
7

Building an eco-friendly home in the Himalayas

A dream come true

Our dream of building an eco-friendly home in the Himalayas that eventually took shape as Fagunia Farmstay arose out of a mix of idealistic and mundane considerations. The idealistic considerations were to have a place where Aditi and I could experiment with ideas of sustainability and a simpler, eco-friendly, minimalist and self sufficient lifestyle. This would be our preparation for what we strongly believe will be a future where increasing climate change will profoundly transform the world as we know it and make it increasingly difficult to live the high consumption, high footprint, and urban lifestyle that most of us have gotten used to over the past few decades. The mundane part was our dream to eventually quit the 9-5 rat race and find a modest income source to take care of our living expenses. So we zeroed in on buying some farm land in Uttarakhand and set up a place where we could put all of our passions and ideas into practice.

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1 Jul
0

Spending time with nature is essential

spending time in nature is essential and possible by staying at ecofriendly homestays

With more and more people living in cities, spending time with nature these days takes special effort. But making that effort is essential, particularly for children, who with increased access to gadgets do not get a chance to experience the natural world and benefit from it. The increasing availability of eco-friendly homestays located next to forests may be the answer to spend quality time with nature.

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22 Oct
0

Introducing Fagunia Farmstay

Fagunia Farmstay is a homestay near Nanital

Welcome! Fagunia Farmstay is a home stay located on a Himalayan farm near Nainital in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. Fagunia is a labor of love by a Pahadi-Telugu couple. We are passionate about traveling, homestays, sustainable living and organic farming. Through Fagunia Farmstay, we aim to share these passions with responsible travellers like you.

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