Run a Café in the Mountains
Ever dreamt of running a cozy little café or restaurant in the Himalayas?Here’s the chance to make that dream a reality, and for a good cause! Meet and host intrepid travelers from across the globe in spaces that radiate good vibes and soul. Make the cash register ring and wait tables. Help us sell the best coffee, bakes, and local produce in Kaza! Surrounded always by friendly faces, the aromatic scent of coffee, and great music – this could just be the mountain workspace of your dreams! Come create unforgettable memories for travelers and for yourself at this heart and hearth of Kaza.
- Volunteer at Sol Café – a social enterprise café started by Ecosphere in 2012 that today is the place to visit in Kaza!
- Or Volunteer at Taste of Spiti, a restaurant and B&B that offers a fusion of traditional Spitian food and world cuisine.
- Help make the cash register ring by waiting tables, selling local produce and room nights, along with manning the front desk
- Come sharpen your hospitality skills and kick up a conversation with intrepid travelers from around the world, while experiencing life like a local in Spiti
- Add to the warmth and wonder of Kaza’s best coffee and food places
- Help sell (and also sample) specialty teas, handmade chocolates, bakes from around the world, and the best coffee in town!
- Discover and promote delicious food with the goodness of traditional Spitian ingredients – Black pea Hummus, Himalayan Garden Burger, and beverages made from the wonder berry Seabuckthorn
- Share your love for food – create exciting new dishes for our menu and train our local chefs. Cook, eat, and serve a good cause!
- Apart from having a great time running Sol and Taste of Spiti and getting a hands-on experience on how to run a Café & Restaurant, you will also be directly helping to support several development projects that are funded from the revenue of these two places
₹9,000.00
Get a taste of running a café and restaurant in the Indian Himalayas! Wait tables, sell local produce, and chat with fellow travelers at this hearth and heart of Kaza.
Sol Cafe
Sol Café was started in 2012 when a bunch of volunteers passionate about baking, coffee and all things good, put their hearts and culinary skills together to create Sol – a social enterprise Café. Today it has become a must-visit in Kaza. Sol is a lounge for travellers to meet, exchange stories, and plan their travels while enjoying great food and music. Today, Sol Café offers the best coffees in town (truly J – some customers have told us it’s the best coffee they’ve ever had!), specialty teas, handmade chocolates, rum balls, waffles and fresh bakes from across the world. You will find dishes here from around the world introduced by volunteers. You will also find that the café exudes a Soul – a soul pieced together by all the volunteers who have each left a part of themselves behind to make it truly an amazing space and concept. If you love baking/cooking, or love meeting and interacting with interesting travellers from around the world – come join our ever-growing family of Sol Stars!
Taste of Spiti
Taste of Spiti was started in 2014 by volunteers along similar lines, to showcase all things local and Spiti. Taste of Spiti is a restaurant in Kaza that provides travelers with a fusion of traditional Spiti food and ingredients with world cuisine. The food on offer here is unlike any other in Kaza, from sumptuous falafels with black pea hummus to hearty local pastas with an Italian twist! Our most popular dishes on the menu are the Himalayan Garden Burger made from local black peas and our Miracle Berry Tea. The restaurant isn’t just another place to dine but aims to offer insights into and promote local ingredients and cuisine. Additionally, the interiors of Taste of Spiti – from the lights to the salt & pepper shakers – are handcrafted from waste in Spiti. So if you’re someone who enjoys fusion food, loves cooking, or passionate about up-cycling waste, interiors, art, or painting, come join us!
If you feel you can run Sol Café / Taste of Spiti and contribute your ideas and skills to further enhance these spaces for upto a month (excluding travel time), we would love to have you over!
Taste of Spiti – Minimum Commitment: 1/2 month
Sol Cafe – Minimum Commitment: 1 month
Accommodation & Meals:
Your stay and meals will be in Kaza with us. You will be sharing a room (with 2 to 3 volunteers) with an attached toilet.
Being a social enterprise working on and supporting various community initiatives in the region we expect our volunteers to cover their own cost of stay and food for a which a very nominal amount is charged.
1/2 Month – Rs. 9000
1 Month – Rs. 15000
- You are expected to have a good level of commitment while volunteering with Ecosphere.
- Volunteers are treated as team members and not as clients. So if you expect otherwise or have any concerns do let us know beforehand or speak with the Ecosphere management team immediately. If it is within our means we will do our best to address your concern. If we feel that you do not fit, you will be requested to leave.
- If you’re keen to travel around Spiti, please keep a few extra days before or after your volunteering period.
- The start date is the date of arrival and the end date is the date of departure.
Meaningful Impact |
You make Spiti an even better place.
Friendships for life |
Connections that transcend language, culture, nationality, or economic differences
Become part of Spiti’s life and culture |
Live their lives and hear their stories as an insider
Amazing fun! |
Happiness for the body and soul – mountain-style!
Learn something new |
Try things you’ve never done before
Life-changing experiences
Re-discover yourself as you discover Spiti
Dont just take our word for it!
The experience with ‘Spiti Ecosphere’ was one of its kind, as it not only provided my wife and me with an experience of a lifetime, but also opened our minds to the hidden world of Spiti. Ecosphere ensured that it was a safe, clean, scenic and educative journey for us. Most importantly, it was humbling to see how Spiti Ecosphere, especially Ishita has changed the lives of the people of Spiti, by the untiring energy, that Ecosphere dedicates for the better upliftment of the local people. I would sincerely advise anyone to only use Spiti Ecosphere, if one plans Spiti as their destination.
A genuine responsible travel agency led by warm and sincere people. If you are looking for a real experience of Spiti in a way that supports the locals and protects their environment, Ecosphere must be your choice.
Spiti has left an unimaginable impressions on our minds and souls. Kudos to Ecosphere for organizing a very memorable trip and introducing us to the wonderful world of spiti with its magnificent peaks.A big thank you and warm hugs to the entire team of Ecosphere for doing such wonderful projects.!! Hoping to be back in spiti very soon. Once again thank you team Ecosphere for making our holidays so memorable and taking care of us like a family. Took care of us like family.
Spiti with Ecosphere was a life changing experience for me. I grew up as a person while 'living like a local' in this wonderland. Understanding the local way of life, its merits, its struggle and its sanctity had a profound effect on me. I've never traveled with an itinerary, so I was apprehensive doing the same here, but Ecosphere has done a wonderful job, not only in managing this programme for us but good work done by this organization is visible everywhere which somehow makes me feel extremely proud that I was tiny part of their efforts to do something good for real and not just for show. This was travelling redefined for me and I looking forward to be a part of the good work again, for sure.
This was the most rewarding experience of my life. . Spiti Ecosphere gave me an amazing volunteering opportunity that allowed me to help build a greenhouse in a small village in Spiti Valley, a mountain desert where nothing grows. I signed up for Ecosphere’s 2-week voluntourism program that combines volunteer work with the opportunity to explore the beauty of the valley without the negative side effects of commercial tourism. . What Ishita and Ecosphere are doing in Spiti is remarkable. Ecosphere is helping local communities create sustainable means of living through its many projects, volunteerism being just one of them.
Spiti with Ecosphere was a life changing experience for me. I grew up as a person while 'living like a local' in this wonderland. Understanding the local way of life, its merits, its struggle and its sanctity had a profound effect on me. I've never traveled with an itinerary, so I was apprehensive doing the same here, but Ecosphere has done a wonderful job, not only in managing this programme for us but good work done by this organization is visible everywhere which somehow makes me feel extremely proud that I was tiny part of their efforts to do something good for real and not just for show. This was travelling redefined for me and I looking forward to be a part of the good work again, for sure.
Outlook
World Travel and Tourism Council
Virgin Holidays & Responsible Travel
Wild Asia
Travel+Leisure
The Ashden Awards For Sustainable Energy
The Sierra Club
L’Oréal Paris
CNN IBN & Reliance Foundation
CNN-IBN
The IIPTI Global Awards
Economic Times
