Overview:
As all of the people have heard about the mighty Himalayas, adventure in there absolutely should not be missed. And those who have already had adventures there will never forget the moments they spent inside the tea houses in Nepal. If you don’t believe my words, you can ask anyone who has been there. The feedback of the travelers who have been there has claimed that anyone who has lived a life as a human must come to travel the Himalayas of Nepal and reside in the tea houses of Nepal once in their life.
Now as we talk about adventuring and traveling in mountains, we want to say that it is not an easy job to do. You have to go through a lot. Imagine passing the passes and mountains at high altitudes without any proper services and availabilities with just the help of your raw physical power. It sounds challenging, right?
As you have now imagined yourself in the mountains, imagine how the people who live there go through their daily lives. We want to let you know that, people living there have a hard life. They have to go through a lot just to bring the daily life essentials. But despite such hardship and struggles, they have managed to open teahouses, homestays, and lodges to accommodate visitors like you. Now as we tell you this, you can know how much effort the people living in the mountains of Nepal have put into ensuring your comfort and security.
Therefore, today in this blog, we will be talking about the teahouses that explain the overall scenario of the tea houses in Nepal. By going through the following details, you will have a clear concept of the teahouses in Nepal. So, without wasting any time let’s get started with one-by-one sections in detail.
What is a tea house in Nepal?
So, before diving into the main topics, first let’s know what are teahouses in Nepal. As we have discussed earlier, teahouses can be termed mountain lodges in Nepal that are opened to serve trekkers and adventures coming from different places of the world. Generally, teahouses are opened by the local people who reside in the trekking routes in different regions of the country. Here in these teahouses, you will able to get the choice of food available on the menu and the rooms to spend the night with basic to costly options (according to the availability).
As you can see the teahouse is made up of wooden or stone structures with hut-like shapes. Inside these houses, you will have a shared dining hall, separate or attached bathrooms, a kitchen, and lots of bedrooms that consist of two beds and a table. All of these houses are primarily for the trekkers, but as you find yourself in more remote areas, the houses of the local people will act as a teahouse, it can also be called ‘Homestay’.
Mostly in the routes, you will find tea houses that serve basic facilities that will give you a true sense of adventure. Residing in such kinds of tea houses will offer you the chance to connect to nature and the beautiful surroundings.
Price of Tea Houses in Nepal while Trekking:
Now after you have the idea of the teahouse, you might be wondering whether the tea houses in Nepal are expensive or cheap. Look, there are lots of regions in the country that host various kinds of teahouses. Some of the famous trekking regions in the country such as Everest, Annapurna, Langtang, and Manaslu have different price ranges for the Accommodation and meals at those tea houses.
Before talking about the price ranges, we should know that trekkers generally move from one point to another point within a day. So, you should know that the price may vary according to the tea houses. Some may charge you high, some may charge you low.
Furthermore, there are many things to include in the price details of the tea houses in Nepal. But in this blog post, we will only talk about the prices related to accommodation and food in the tea houses of Nepal.
Accommodation:
Talking about Accommodation, there are mainly two factors that hugely determine the price. That is, lower altitude tea houses and Higher altitude tea houses. Even if the services are the same in both tea houses, the price will go up as the altitude increases. You will be provided with basic bedroom requirements like a pillow, Mattress, and blankets with each bed in a room. Normally, you will find two bedrooms in a single room.
In lower altitudes, these kinds of rooms will be charged around 600-1300 Nepali rupees i.e. 5$-11$. If you are in large groups and you include dinner in it, then the price may come down.
Further, as you go up to the higher altitudes, the services will become more limited. Reaching at the higher altitudes you will even have to pay for a bucket of hot water. So it is obvious that you will have to pay more for the rooms. You may have to pay 15$ or more at higher altitudes depending on situations and seasons.
Foods:
Most of the tea houses have a variety of food options which include Nepali, Tibetan, and Indian, and sometimes continental. This applies to the lower altitude tea houses. Remember that, the more the place is hard to reach, the more simple the food menu gets. Regardless of the region and the trek, the one specialty of tea houses in Nepal is that you will find the food menu similar to the items – Dal Bhat, Momo, Noodles, Homemade Pizzas, Pastas, Egg items, Potatoes, Soups, etc. You will find these items in most of the regions.
Meals are often made specially in these tea houses. The cook will make the meals in the traditional way with woodfire. Cooking in this way will make the meal more delicious and you will find the taste different. For breakfast, you will find a variety of options such as Tea, coffee, eggs, Porridge, Pancakes, Toast, Tibetan Bread, Potatoes, and Chapatis.
Similarly, for Lunch and dinner, you will get options like – Pasta, Noodles, Chowmein, Momos, Dal Bhat, Potato items, meat items (often served best with dal bhat), homemade pizzas, Noodles, Sandwiches, Soups, Desserts. The cost of these meals will cost you from 5$ dollars to 17$ i.e. 600 to 2000 rupees. The price depends on how big you are and how much you eat.
Remember that, tea houses in Nepal serve fresh and organic meals. As they have their farm and fields, there is no worry about growing organic foods.
Drinks:
Staying hydrated is equally important as eating healthy food while doing trekking. So to keep yourself hydrated you can buy bottled water which will cost you 1 dollar in lower altitudes. But as you go up the price will go up to 5 dollars. Further, the price of tea and coffee will range from 1$ -5$ depending on the altitude. If you want, hard drinks will also be available in some regions. Hard drinks such as beer will cost you around 5$ to 10$.
Bathrooms & Toilets:
The bathrooms of Tea houses are pretty basic. In most of the tea houses, you will find shared bathrooms that need to be flushed manually with the bucket. This is for the remote regions, if you go into more developed regions like Everest, you will find standard western toilets. However, whatever the region it be, you should bring toilet paper and a headlamp as you may have to go to the night, which may be outside the teahouse.
In addition to toilets and bathrooms, you can find shower facilities in the tea houses located in the lower altitudes. The facilities are pretty decent here, but as you go up, the facilities will be very limited. In places where you won’t find a shower, you can use a bucket full of hot water to bath.
Are there electricity facilities in the tea houses of Nepal?
Yes, most of the teahouses in Nepal have basic electricity. If not electricity most of the teahouses also run on solar power. However, on high-altitude trekking like the Everest base camp trek, you may have to pay a certain amount for charging your devices. So, it will be better for you to bring your own solar charger or power bank.
In lower altitude treks like the Annapurna base camp trek, most of the teahouses let you charge your devices for free of cost along with the Wi-Fi Services.
So how do you Make a Reservation in a Teahouse?
As teahouses are not branded and it is locally owned, you can’t find anywhere else to book them. If you are engaging yourself with a trekking agency like Mission Himalaya, you don’t have to worry as they will do all of the bookings and stuff.
But if you are not engaging with any of the agencies, then don’t worry you don’t have to book at all. Since a guide will be with you while trekking or adventuring in any part of Nepal, he will find it for you.
Unless you are trekking in a peak season, there is less chance that all lodges are fully reserved. Even if the lodges are filled, you will get a place to sleep inside the house. It may be in the dining room, communal room, or in another room. The owners of the teahouses will somehow manage space for you so that you won’t have to spend your night in the freezing outdoors.
Conclusion:
In final words, we want to say that tea houses in Nepal are the saviors of travelers and Adventurers. Especially, the Mountains Teahouses have played a big role in ensuring the safety and accessibility of trekkers/climbers. The more remote place an adventurer visits, the more he/she will know the importance of the teahouse. To be honest, we will say that after you spend your time in teahouses, you will feel more connected with the people and the surroundings of the journey. You will feel a sense of belonging to that certain place and you will be probably calling that place your Home.
In comparison to the luxurious and stylish hotels, the price of the teahouses is nothing. We are sure that the teahouses will give you the comfort that no other luxury hotels can give. Therefore, we believe that you will consider the price and spend the costs without any hesitations.
Even though the teahouses have limited services and availabilities compared to the modern world, we hope that you will enjoy every moment you spend on it. Instead of looking for modern services, we expect you to connect with the locals, share thoughts and experiences of the adventure with friends, and cherish the greatest moment of the adventure that will be remembered throughout your whole life.
Birendra Duwadi by profession a trekking and tourist guide and an enterpreur whose passion is trekking in the himalayas. Started Mission Himalaya Treks in 2015 with a new vision to introduce Nepal's Himlayas to the world. His vision is to explore and documentation new trekking routes . Birendra leads Mission Himalaya, a company that change the qualities of trekking in Nepal.