Food and Accommodations
Arrival and departure hotels - Kathmandu
Our trips typically include 3 or 4 nights hotel stay in Kathmandu; 2-3 nights at the beginning and/or 1-2 night at the end of the trek (varies with different tours). These are high quality hotels (by Nepali standards). Our guests really enjoy them and they are chosen for their charm and service. If you plan to come earlier or leave later than the designated trip time, then those extra hotel costs are your responsibility. Please let us know your plans and we can help in making bookings or extending your stay in our usual hotels.
While in Kathmandu our hotel facilities include hot showers and hot water along with many western amenities. We leave these luxuries behind when we get on the plane to Lukla.
Life in the Tea houses
While on the Trek, all of the nightly accommodation cost is included. There is a singles levy as we price the trek based on double occupancy. We stay each night in tea houses in villages convenient to where we end our day. They are chosen for unique attributes, quality and service. The quality will vary depending on the village and generally speaking quality tends to reduce as we get higher. It’s the reality of the supply chain and resources up at high altitudes.
When we arrive at a tea house, usually around 3:00 in the afternoon, our Porters will unload your assigned duffel bag and will either take it to your room, if assigned, or leave it with the others in a group. Once the rooms are assigned you can take your bag to your room or someone will take it for you.
You will be given a room key to unlock your room. It is recommended that you lock your room whenever you leave it. You will be sharing the room and you will only have one key per room. Be careful not to lock your roommate in. It happens quite often!
We are usually a large group and tea houses do not maintain a full staff compliment. Our Sherpa helpers are our waitresses and service providers at the tea house. They are paid to serve your every need and they enjoy helping you. Whatever you want (within reason), just ask and they will get it right away with a smile.
The Sherpa helpers also keep track of your food bill at each tea house in a workbook and you pay your bill through them each morning before we move on. They will bring you menus, take your orders, serve your food, and clear your dishes. The orders are placed a few hours before meal service as the cooking equipment is usually rudimentary and it takes time to prepare the meals. Breakfast is ordered the night before. Within a few days on the trek you will be familiar with the process and you will be thrilled with how much the Sherpa helpers do for you.
The rooms have thin plywood separation walls and they are not sound proof by any means. You will hear your neighbours and all manner of dormitory type noises. Ear plugs are recommended.
The cold walk to the common bathroom at night can be chilly and unpleasant! Do what you can to minimise the trips in the night.
The tea houses all serve food in a restaurant style (sort of) from a common gathering room. Menus are very similar throughout the region. The common room is the only heated space and the sleeping quarters are dormitory style - 2 single beds with foam pads per room. The rooms are chilly at night, especially up high. The tea houses all have warm blankets you can use, but they are not often washed between uses. They will do if you need them. We suggest your own sleeping bag rated for -15 degrees C. They can be rented in Kathmandu or purchased or you can bring one from home.
The common room is where we hang out after we arrive and in the evenings after dark. We will be with other trekkers and groups most evenings. Our guides, porters and Sherpa helpers will be there as well so you will get to know them and enjoy their company. The porters and sometimes the Sherpa guides and helpers sleep in other facilities maintained for them in the villages. They don’t eat with us unless we ask them to. They normally choose to eat their standard Dal Bat meal and to hang out with other Nepali service providers who speak their language and follow their customs. Many are friends they see on treks regularly.
A central wood / yak dung burning stove is stoked and burned in the evenings to provide heat in the common room but it is often still cool in the common room requiring jackets or sweaters while we sit around playing cards, reading or chatting. There are often warming benches around the stove where you can get some extra heat and socialise with others. Warm comfortable lounging shoes or booties are nice to have.
We will have a stated departure time for the mornings. You need to have your bag packed and ready and brought to the gathering place by the designated time. You will not see that bag again until late that day so you must have your daily essentials and provisions in your day pack that you will carry. It takes some organisation each morning but you will learn the routine quickly. The Sherpa helpers will check all the rooms each morning after you vacate and make sure you haven’t left anything. They often find things left behind.
Remember to settle your tea house tab and hand in your room key before you leave! Or you will have an angry and animated in-keeper chasing you to the next village.
Food
The food menus are very similar throughout the trek except that as we go higher so do the prices. You will see the same things on most of the menus everywhere we go. Some Tea houses have some variances and the quality of preparation and tastes varies by tea house. We only stay at tea houses where we have some experience and comfort with the food and hygiene.
One of the effects of altitude is loss of appetite. You will sometimes find the menus uninviting and you just won’t find anything that appeals to you. This is common at higher altitude but you must overcome it and keep nourished for the whole trek. Much of the menu is starch based with some vegetables here and there. Meat is always a risk and many trekkers don’t take the chance. There are many of the tea houses where meat is safe but there are no guarantees. The decision whether or not to eat meat is up to you and your constitution.
The food in Kathmandu is generally safe but you need to keep to the better areas and restaurants.
Water is available in the tea houses. You can purchase fully filtered and safe bottled water everywhere. Again, the price goes up with altitude. You can get a free fill of your water bottle at all the tea houses but the water should be treated with Pristine drops or another suitable filter and steriliser. Bringing along some drink flavor crystals or flavor dispensers is a good idea, Many trekkers choose to purchased safe bottled water each day.
The tea houses all have chocolate bars and Pringles and a few other junk food items available for sale. Most trekkers bring a few treats from home to supplement the somewhat regular diet of potatoes and rice and starchy foods.
Breakfasts are pretty typical; porridge, toast, eggs, potatoes, etc. We brew our own coffee each morning and it is good!!!
Fruit is hard to come by but there are a few tea houses with canned fruit and local grown apples that taste pretty good after a week on the trail.
Connections to the other world
Most tea houses have Internet access for a fee and device charging apparatus for tablets and phones (also for a fee). Typically it is about $5 US to get a full charge. This is put on your tea house tab. In some areas we have special “Sherpa Encounters Only” free internet access. We suggest you bring along a supplemental battery pack and/or solar charger if you have one.
Cell phones will work in the Khumbu when the conditions are favourable. Some of the remote villages do not have a signal. You do need a special plan and SIM card (available in Kathmandu). Roaming from Nepal can be expensive. You should check with your home provider to see what is available for you. We have some local phones that are set up with inexpensive phone plans for limited use by our guests to be able to call home.
The cell and internet service is not like at home. The band width is limited and service can be slow and unreliable. Patience is required and you won't be in constant contact.
Toilet and washing up facilities
Most tea houses in the Khumbu have western style toilets as well as squat toilets. The western style ones are for our benefit and usually are not used by the locals. The washrooms are common use rooms that are not up to, or even close to, western standards. It is part of the experience! The toilets often don’t work properly, the waterlines are sometimes frozen especially up high and some toilets have to be flushed with water scooped from a barrel. By all means give the squat toilets a try. It is part of the Nepali culture you came to experience.
Toilet paper is not to be flushed down the toilet in the tea houses. There is a bin or bucket provided to dispose of used paper. There will be a group paper folding protocol demonstration!
Some tea houses have showers. They are unique and not fully private at times. You pay extra for them and the price goes up as we go up. Count on going several days without a shower. Baby wipes fill the void and work pretty well. Showers, in most of the tea houses, are an extra charge that is not included in the trek price. The charge is added to your tea house tab.
There are washing up sinks in most washrooms or common areas but they, like the toilets, don't always work. There is rarely hot water supplied for the sinks or common area wash basins - cold only - with a few exceptions. If hot water is desired it can be purchase for a relatively modest amount.
This is all part of the cultural journey - so smile, be flexible and enjoy the esperience!
Namaste!