Most of Nepal's treks are 'teahouse' treks, ensuring you end up in a simple lodge with standard rooms and a meal every evening. The great thing about trekking in teahouse-you just has to bring very little clothes. Teahouse trekking means sleeping in a lodge for every night of your journey.
Nearly all of Nepal's major trekking routes are teahouse treks, enabling the trekker to travel with the minimum kit. A teahouse may refer to large cosy, well-built lodges with common areas (as seen in the Solu Khumbu), a small bamboo hut lodged on a steep hill within the forest.
What do you mean Teahouses?
Tea houses differ widely from region to region, but most are simple stone and wooden buildings or cottages with a kitchen, a traditional dining and bathroom space, and a variety of standard bedrooms that typically have two single beds and a table.
Most teahouses are designed primarily for trekkers, but some may act as the family's home in the more remote regions of Nepal.
Accommodation at Teahouses in Nepal
Expect that the rooms are simple but tidy, and pay marginally extra for a bathroom added. Your bed will come with a heavy blanket that you can use as a second sheet over your sleeping bag or as your main blanket for the night (feel free to double up if it's cold).
Most trekkers avoid showers throughout their trek but at a small fee, some tea houses provide hot bucket showers.
Note: If you are concerned about cleanliness, carry home your bed liner or light sleeping bag, or buy one in Kathmandu or Pokhara. Bringing a pair of earplugs is often smart, as the walls are tiny in most teahouses).
Teahouse Protocols
If your lodging and meals are provided as part of a kit walk, so besides personal snacks and drinks, all will be taken care of at your teahouse, which you usually pay for yourself.
The cost of your room is very inexpensive in nearly all situations (around $5/night), where the owners make much of their money from the meals and drinks. That is why you are supposed to eat all of your meals at the teahouse, you're staying at.
Meals Provided at Teahouses in Nepal
At almost all the teahouses you can find an everyday fixed menu of dhal bhat, momos, pasta, pizza, and other rice and noodle plates.
Dal Bhat Power 24 Hour
Few dishes take longer to prepare than others (such as momos), so it is better to see what's new and ready in advance. It is prudent to buy whatever's new to prevent getting sick on the hike.
Most trekkers, guides, and porters opt for dhal bhat; it's usually reliable, safe, and readily available from anywhere. Generally speaking, the further you get in your walk the most it pays for food.
For example, at Gorak Shep (located high in the mountains, near Everest Base Camp), expect to pay more for dhal bhat than you will in Lukla (which is easily reachable due to its airport and lower elevation).
Wi-fi and Electricity
Numerous tea houses in Nepal now have wi-fi and charging ports in the dining hall. Even, the pace and durability of the service is spotty, at best, and slows down the more users linked to it (due to the old routers).
The Solukhumbu tea houses have better internet connectivity (especially in Namche Bazaar) but don't expect too much elsewhere in Nepal.