This week’s dream: hiking in the Himalayan foothills

In a little corner of the Himalayan foothills of India lies the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, says Paul Bloomfield in Wanderlust. When it was founded in 1988, it looked as it if would threaten the livelihoods of several villages that lay within its bounds. The strict rules of the sanctuary meant villagers could no longer exploit the surrounding forests for resin, firewood or animal fodder, nor kill wild beasts that grubbed up their crops. But now a community tourism project called Village Ways has resolved the conflict of interests. New guesthouses in every village have created a substantial alternative source of income that is shared equally among locals, some of whom also work as guides for visiting hikers.

For those who come to walk in the area, the benefits are manifold. The guesthouses are "cosy" and the guides provide "a unique insight into traditional rural life". What's more, Binsar is now that rare thing on the subcontinent: a "hassle-free zone": there is "no begging, no staring, no guilt" – just a warm welcome wherever you go. The hiking itself is "gentle", along "forest paths springy with pine needles" – but snow-capped Himalayan peaks like the 8,000m Nanda Devi dominate every view. The villages are "bucolic": verdant terraces spill down the steep hillside below Kathdara, where "piney wood-smoke scents the still air" and the guesthouse garden is "ablaze with flowers".

The Village Ways project has now been extended to the village of Supi in the Saryu Valley, deeper in the mountains, where the hiking is more demanding. The glacier of Pindari, glistening in the distance, is a tempting destination. Or a steep climb through rhododendron forest above the village leads you to a ridge where three temples stand, "breath-lessly high" at over 3,000m. The silence is broken only by the faint tinkle of bells in their courtyards as eagles soar above the clouds far below.

Village Ways (01223 750049) offers ten nights from £739pp incl. transfers from Delhi. Jet Airways (0808 101 1199) flies to Delhi from £354 rtn. ·