Teahouse Trekking in Nepal: Rooms, Food, Wi-Fi, Charging, Showers and Costs
What a Nepal teahouse is really like: twin rooms with thin walls, the dining room stove, dal bhat refills, what to eat higher up, hot showers, charging, wifi, drinking water and toilets, with honest 2026 prices by region and what our treks include.
18 min read
On this page
- What is a teahouse in Nepal?
- What are teahouse rooms like?
- What is the teahouse dining room like?
- What food do teahouses serve?
- How much do teahouses cost in 2026?
- Do teahouses have hot showers?
- Can I charge my phone in teahouses?
- Is there wifi on Nepal treks?
- Can you drink the water in teahouses?
- What are teahouse toilets like?
- What is the etiquette in a teahouse?
- Do I need to book teahouses in advance?
- What is included on our treks, and what do you pay yourself?
- What should I pack for teahouse trekking?
Teahouse trekking in Nepal means walking from village to village and sleeping in small family-run lodges instead of tents. You get a simple twin room, three hot meals from a lodge menu, a dining room with a stove, and the option to pay for a hot shower, battery charging and wifi. On the main routes there is a teahouse every hour or two.
It is comfortable in the way a mountain hut is comfortable. The room is cold, the walls are thin and the toilet may be a squat pan down the corridor. The food is good, the dining room is warm and the people running it are usually the reason you remember the place. Below we go through every part of teahouse life, with honest 2026 prices for each region and what you pay yourself on our treks.
- Room
- Twin share
- Room cost
- USD 5–25/night
- Food per day
- USD 20–50
- Dal bhat
- NPR 600–1,500
- Rooms heated?
- No
- Paid extras
- Shower, charging, wifi
What is a teahouse in Nepal?
A teahouse is a family-run lodge on a trekking route that sells beds and meals to trekkers. The name comes from the tea stops on old trading trails. Today most are two-storey buildings of stone or timber with a row of simple bedrooms, a shared bathroom and a big dining room where everyone eats and keeps warm.
They range a lot. In Namche Bazaar or Ghorepani you will find lodges with attached bathrooms, bakeries and espresso machines. At Mardi Himal High Camp, Khopra Danda or Dharamsala below the Larkya La there are only a handful of lodges, and they are basic. Some routes use community lodges owned by the village, such as those on our Mohare Danda trek and Khopra Danda trek, where profits go to schools and health posts.
Almost every popular trek in Nepal is a teahouse trek: Poon Hill, Annapurna Base Camp, the Annapurna and Manaslu circuits, Langtang and Everest Base Camp. Camping is now only needed in remote areas such as Upper Dolpo, Kanchenjunga's quieter side valleys or the high sections of the Dhaulagiri Circuit.
What are teahouse rooms like?
Expect a small twin room with two single wooden beds, a thin foam mattress, a pillow and a blanket, and not much else. Walls are plywood or thin timber, there is no heating, and higher up the window will have frost on the inside by morning. A hook, a shelf and a single light bulb are standard.
Some things that surprise first-time trekkers:
You hear everything. Snoring, zips, the person next door packing at 4.30 am for a sunrise climb. Bring earplugs.
It gets properly cold. Above about 3,500 m, rooms drop below freezing on autumn nights, and above Dingboche they can reach -10 °C or lower. The lodge blanket helps but you need a sleeping bag. On our treks we lend you a down jacket and sleeping bag.
Solo travellers usually get a twin to themselves in normal times, but in October and November on busy routes rooms are shared and the smallest high camps fill up. On the busiest nights at places like Gorak Shep or Thorong Phedi, latecomers sometimes sleep in the dining room.
Bedding is the lodge's. Many trekkers use a sleeping bag liner for hygiene and warmth.
A small tip from the trail: fill your metal or hard plastic bottle with boiling water at night, close it tightly and put it in your sleeping bag. It is a hot-water bottle until morning and drinking water by breakfast.
What is the teahouse dining room like?
The dining room is the heart of every teahouse: one warm room with long tables, benches round the walls and a stove in the middle. The stove is lit in the late afternoon, burning wood lower down and often dried yak dung in the Khumbu. It is the only heated space in the building, so everyone gathers there.
At 6 pm in October, a dining room at Ghorepani or Deurali is full: trekkers in down jackets writing diaries, guides at their own table, phones charging on a power strip behind the counter, someone's socks steaming where they should not be. Dinner comes out in waves because one small kitchen is cooking for forty people. By 8.30 pm most people have gone to bed, because the next morning starts early.
Guides and porters usually eat after trekkers, often in the kitchen. That is normal, not a slight, and it is where they get their dal bhat refilled.
What food do teahouses serve?
Most teahouses have a printed menu of thirty to sixty dishes: dal bhat, fried rice and noodles, momos, soups, potatoes, pasta, pizza, porridge, eggs, chapati and Tibetan bread. The kitchen is small, so simple Nepali food is fresher and quicker than the Western dishes. Menus look similar along a route because lodges in the same village often agree prices.
Breakfast is porridge, muesli, eggs, chapati or Tibetan bread with honey. Lunch is usually at a teahouse on the trail, and noodle soup or fried rice comes out quickest. Dinner is where dal bhat wins.
Why do trekkers eat so much dal bhat?
Dal bhat is the best food on the trail: rice, lentil soup, a vegetable curry, greens and pickle, and in most lodges the refills are free. It is cooked fresh every day because the family eats it too, it is filling and it is the best value on the menu. Nepali porters have a saying, dal bhat power, 24 hour, and after a long climb you will understand it.
When the host comes round with the pot, say yes to more rice and dal. Leave a little on the plate when you are finished, or put your hand over it.
Is it safe to eat meat on a trek?
Low down it is usually fine, but higher up most guides, ours included, advise vegetarian meals. Above the roads, meat is carried in by porters over several days without refrigeration, and in Buddhist areas animals are not slaughtered locally. A stomach upset at 4,000 m can end your trek, and it is not worth the risk for a chicken curry.
Local custom also matters:
Khumbu (Everest). Sherpa communities traditionally do not slaughter animals, so meat above Namche comes up from lower valleys on porters' backs. Eat it in Namche if you must, and stick to vegetarian food higher up.
Annapurna Sanctuary. Beyond Chhomrong (some lodges put the line at Sinuwa), meat is not served on the way to Annapurna Base Camp, out of respect for the mountain gods of the Sanctuary. Notices along the trail ask you not to carry it in.
Upper Manaslu (Nubri). Slaughter is avoided in much of the upper valley, meat is scarce, and we recommend vegetarian meals on our Manaslu Circuit trek.
Eggs, cheese and yak cheese are widely available and give you the protein. Vegetarians eat very well in Nepal. Vegans manage too, especially with dal bhat; ask your guide to explain "no butter, no milk, no egg" to the kitchen.
What else should I eat or avoid higher up?
Eat hot, freshly cooked food, and avoid salads, raw vegetables, unpeeled fruit and anything reheated. Garlic soup is on every high menu and many trekkers order it nightly; it does no harm, but it does not prevent altitude sickness either. Your appetite often drops above 3,500 m, so eat regularly anyway. Carbohydrates are your friend.
Skip alcohol until you are coming down. It disturbs sleep and makes altitude symptoms harder to read. Our altitude sickness guide explains why.
How much do teahouses cost in 2026?
Plan on about USD 25–40 a day for room, food and extras in the Annapurna foothills and USD 45–70 a day in the upper Khumbu, paid in Nepali rupees. Rooms are cheap. Food is the main cost, and prices rise with every day's walk from the road because everything is carried up by porters, mules or yaks.
These are typical 2026 ranges we see on the trail. Exact prices vary between lodges and seasons, and in the Annapurna region village lodge committees set menu prices, so lodges in the same place charge the same.
Region and altitude | Twin room per night | Dal bhat | Boiled or filtered water (1 litre) | Hot shower | Charging per device |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Annapurna foothills (Poon Hill, Ghandruk, Mohare) | NPR 300–1,000, often less if you eat in | NPR 600–900 | NPR 50–150 | Free–NPR 300 | Free–NPR 200 |
Upper Annapurna Sanctuary, Mardi High Camp | NPR 500–1,500 | NPR 900–1,200 | NPR 150–250 | NPR 200–500 | NPR 300–500 |
Annapurna Circuit, Manang to Thorong Phedi | NPR 800–2,000 | NPR 800–1,300 | NPR 150–350 | NPR 300–500 | NPR 200–500 |
Everest: Phakding to Namche | NPR 500–1,500 | NPR 700–1,000 | NPR 100–200 | NPR 300–500 | NPR 200–400 |
Everest: Dingboche to Gorak Shep | USD 15–25 | NPR 1,000–1,500 | NPR 300–450 | USD 5–15, if available | NPR 400–700 |
Langtang Valley | NPR 300–1,000 | NPR 600–1,000 | NPR 100–250 | NPR 200–400 | NPR 100–300 |
Manaslu Circuit | NPR 500–1,500 | NPR 700–1,200 | NPR 150–300 | NPR 200–500 | NPR 200–500 |
In October 2026 one US dollar was worth roughly NPR 155. Our Nepal trekking cost guide puts these numbers into a full trip budget.
Is the room free if I eat at the lodge?
Often it is cheap or nearly free, because lodges earn their money from food. The unwritten rule on every route is that you eat dinner and breakfast where you sleep. If you sleep in one lodge and eat in another, expect to be charged a much higher room rate, and expect a cool welcome.
Why are teahouse prices higher at altitude?
Every kilo of rice, gas and beer above the road arrives on a porter, mule or yak. At Gorak Shep, two or three days' walk from Namche, a plate of fried rice can cost two or three times its price at the trailhead. Fuel is scarce too, which is why showers and charging get dearer higher up. The prices are fair for what it takes to get things there.
Do teahouses have hot showers?
Most do below about 4,000 m, usually for a fee of NPR 100–500, heated by gas or solar panels. Solar showers are hot in the early afternoon on sunny days and lukewarm by evening. Higher up, a "hot shower" is often a bucket of hot water. Above Dingboche or Thorong Phedi many trekkers simply skip washing until they come down.
Shower when you arrive, not at dusk. Wet hair in an unheated room at 4,000 m is a fast way to get chilled, and the gas runs out first for latecomers. Wet wipes and a small towel cover the days in between.
Can I charge my phone in teahouses?
Yes, almost everywhere, but you usually pay per device, from free low down to NPR 300–700 at the highest lodges. Lower villages have mains power from small hydro schemes, and some rooms have sockets. High camps run on solar panels, so you charge in the dining room from a power strip, and on cloudy days there may not be enough.
What helps:
Carry a power bank of 10,000–20,000 mAh. One full charge from a lodge then runs your phone for two days.
Bring a multi-port USB charger so one paid socket charges everything.
Keep batteries warm. Cold drains them fast; sleep with your phone and power bank in your sleeping bag.
Use flight mode between villages, where your phone otherwise burns battery searching for signal.
Plug adaptors: Nepal uses round-pin sockets (types C, D and M). A universal adaptor works.
Is there wifi on Nepal treks?
Yes, on most popular routes, but it is slow at altitude and rarely free. In the Annapurna foothills many lodges give wifi free with dinner or sell it for NPR 200–500 a day. In the Khumbu most lodges sell Everest Link cards, about NPR 1,700 for 10 GB and NPR 2,800 for 20 GB in 2026, valid 30 days.
More detail by region:
Everest. Everest Link runs a network of solar-powered towers from Lukla to Base Camp. Buy a card in Lukla or Namche, or at your lodge. It works in most villages but slows down in the evening when everyone is online. Everest Link cards also work in some other areas, including Upper Mustang and parts of Langtang.
Annapurna. No single network. Each lodge has its own wifi, sold by the hour or day. Upper lodges on the ABC trail charge NPR 400–600 for a slow connection that may drop out.
Langtang and Manaslu. Paid lodge wifi in the main villages, patchy or absent in between. On the Manaslu Circuit, expect slow wifi that works only in the dining room, and little or nothing at Dharamsala.
A local SIM is often better than lodge wifi. Buy a Nepal Telecom (NTC) or Ncell SIM in Kathmandu or Pokhara with your passport before you start. NTC generally has the wider coverage in the mountains, including 4G up to Annapurna Base Camp since 2024; Ncell is often faster in towns and lower villages. Many trekkers carry both.
Treat your trek as partly offline. Tell people at home that you may be out of contact for a day or two, so silence does not worry them.
Can you drink the water in teahouses?
No, not from the tap or the stream. Drink only boiled, filtered or treated water. Lodges will fill your bottle with boiled water for a fee, and in the Annapurna region you can refill at Safe Drinking Water stations. Bring a filter, purification tablets or a UV pen so you can treat your own water anywhere.
Safe Drinking Water stations. Set up in the Annapurna Conservation Area to cut plastic waste, they sell filtered water by the litre at a fair price. There are stations in villages such as Ghandruk, Landruk, Jhinu and Chhomrong, and in larger villages on the Annapurna Circuit.
No plastic bottles in the Sanctuary. Bottled water is not sold beyond Chhomrong on the way to Annapurna Base Camp, so carry two one-litre refillable bottles.
Bottled water is available on most routes lower down, but there is nowhere to get rid of the empty bottle, and it costs far more than refilling. Please don't.
Aim for three to four litres a day, more on the climbs. Hot drinks count, and lemon or ginger tea is as good for hydration as water.
What are teahouse toilets like?
Lower down most lodges have Western flush toilets, often shared; above about 3,500 m squat toilets are more common, flushed with a scoop from a water barrel. Some of the highest camps have outdoor toilets. Many lodges in Namche, Ghorepani and other big villages have rooms with attached bathrooms for a higher price.
Bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitiser, because lodges rarely supply either. Put used paper in the bin, not the pan, as the plumbing cannot take it. At night a headtorch by your pillow saves you fumbling down a cold corridor, and the water barrel may have a skin of ice on it in the morning.
What is the etiquette in a teahouse?
Eat dinner and breakfast where you sleep, order early, and remember you are a guest in someone's home. Teahouses are family homes as well as businesses, often run by a mother and daughters while the men work as guides or on the farm. Small courtesies go a long way.
Order dinner in the afternoon and breakfast the night before. Your guide will usually collect orders and pass them to the kitchen. Ordering the same dish as others in your group speeds things up.
Don't treat the stove as yours. Share the warm seats, and ask before hanging socks or boots near it. Many lodges don't allow it.
Keep the noise down after about 9 pm and on early mornings. The walls really are that thin.
Pay your extras before you leave. Lodges keep a tab of drinks, showers and charging per room. Settle it in cash after breakfast; card payments are rare outside Namche and a few big villages.
Ask before taking photos of the family or the kitchen, and take your shoes off where others do.
Carry your rubbish out. Batteries, wrappers and wet wipes cannot be disposed of in the mountains.
Do I need to book teahouses in advance?
For most of the year, no: your guide books by phone a day ahead. In October, November and April, on routes with few lodges, it matters. Mardi Himal High Camp, Khopra Danda, Dharamsala on Manaslu and Gorak Shep on Everest have limited beds and fill up in peak weeks. A licensed guide who knows the lodge owners makes a real difference here.
On our treks your guide phones ahead each day to hold rooms, and on routes with very few beds, such as Khopra Danda, we plan to arrive early. Our guide to whether you need a guide in Nepal covers the other things a guide sorts out.
What is included on our treks, and what do you pay yourself?
On our teahouse treks, your room and three meals a day are included, with tea or coffee at each meal. Rooms are normally twin share. Your guide settles the lodge bill for meals and rooms. You pay for anything the lodge sells on top: other drinks, snacks, drinking water, hot showers, charging and wifi.
Included on our teahouse treks | You pay yourself |
|---|---|
Teahouse rooms, normally twin share | Drinks other than tea or coffee with meals |
Breakfast, lunch and dinner on trekking days | Snacks, chocolate and bakery treats |
Tea or coffee with each meal | Boiled, filtered or bottled water |
Licensed guide and porters, with their food and rooms | Hot showers, charging and wifi where lodges charge |
Trekking permits for the route | Tips for your guide and porter |
Down jacket and sleeping bag on loan on almost all our treks | Hotel nights and meals in Kathmandu or Pokhara unless listed |
The details vary by trek, and each trip page lists them. On the Australian Camp and Dhampus trek, for example, meals run from lunch on day one to lunch on day two; on the Everest Base Camp trek, meals are included every day on the trail and Kathmandu hotel nights are listed separately. Our article on what's included in a Nepal trekking package goes through the usual inclusions line by line.
How much spending money do I need on an included-meals trek?
About NPR 2,000–4,000 a day covers water, a hot drink or two, a shower, charging and a snack, plus your tips at the end. Bring more for the upper Khumbu, where a shower and a full day of charging can cost several dollars each. There are no ATMs on most trails, so draw the cash in Kathmandu or Pokhara.
Tipping is a separate budget; see tipping guides and porters in Nepal.
Teahouse treks we run
What should I pack for teahouse trekking?
Pack for cold rooms and simple facilities: a warm sleeping bag (or ours on loan), a liner, a down jacket, earplugs, a headtorch, a power bank, toilet paper, hand sanitiser, two refillable bottles and water treatment. Add flip-flops or camp shoes for the evening, and a small padlock for your duffel.
Our full Nepal trekking packing list covers clothing and gear for each season.
More questions about teahouse trekking
Are teahouses clean?
Most are reasonably clean and the bedding is aired, but they are basic. Higher lodges have less water for washing, so standards drop a little with altitude. A sleeping bag liner and your own pillowcase or buff over the pillow make a big difference.
Do teahouses provide blankets?
Yes, almost all have thick blankets, and you can usually ask for an extra one. In the cold months they are not enough on their own above about 3,000 m, so you still need a warm sleeping bag.
Can I get a private room on a teahouse trek?
Usually yes outside the busiest weeks, as rooms are twins and solo trekkers often get one to themselves. In October, November and April on busy routes, and at small high camps, rooms may be shared. Lodges with attached bathrooms in big villages cost more.
Do teahouses take cards or online payments?
Rarely. A few lodges in Namche, Lukla and the bigger Annapurna villages take cards or QR payments, often with a surcharge. Everywhere else is cash in Nepali rupees, so bring enough small notes for the whole trek.
Can vegetarians and vegans eat well in teahouses?
Yes. Vegetarian food is the norm in the mountains and dal bhat, vegetable curries, noodles, potatoes and Tibetan bread are on every menu. Vegans should ask for dishes without butter, ghee, cheese, milk or egg; your guide can explain this to the kitchen.
Can I buy snacks on the trail?
Yes. Lodges sell chocolate bars, biscuits, crisps and soft drinks, and bigger villages have small shops and bakeries. They get more expensive the higher you go, so many trekkers bring a bag of nuts, dried fruit and energy bars from Kathmandu or Pokhara.
What time do teahouses serve dinner and breakfast?
Dinner is usually between 6 and 7.30 pm and breakfast from about 6 to 8 am, earlier on sunrise or pass days. Your guide agrees times with the kitchen the evening before, so tell them if you need an early start or a packed lunch.
Is it cold in teahouses in spring?
Less than in autumn and winter, but nights above 3,000 m are still near or below freezing in March and early April. By May the lower lodges are mild, though the high camps on Mardi Himal or near Everest Base Camp stay cold at night all year.
Can I wash clothes in teahouses?
You can hand-wash small items in a basin and some lodges do laundry for a fee in big villages such as Namche. Clothes dry slowly in the cold, so wash in the early afternoon on a sunny rest day and dry them in the sun, not by the stove.
Are teahouses open in winter and the monsoon?
On the main routes most lodges stay open all year. On high routes, such as the upper Manaslu or the top of the Annapurna Circuit, some close in deep winter. In the monsoon lodges are quiet and easier to find a room in, but trails are wet and views are poor.