“Teahouse” is the only word that every trekker in any kind of treks in Nepal gets to hear. Most of the treks are also popular as the Teahouse trekking, one best example is the Everest Base Camp Trek. If you search “the best teahouse trekking in Nepal”, Google puts EBC trek on the top and other treks below. People who have been to Nepal before for treks and mountain climbs are pretty familiar with Teahouses. The newcomers can get confused; What exactly does Teahouse mean?
Teahouses on the Everest Base Camp Trek or any other trekking trails are stopovers where trekkers get basic food, accommodation, and some other services at an economical price. Originally, as their name suggests Teahouses were small shops operated by the locals in the trails of Nepali treks where travelers used to have tea while taking rest. They all evolved with time as trekkers’ incoming ratio to Nepal also increased so they came up with basic accommodation and food services. And, now such teahouses are scattered all over the trekking trails of Nepal with some extra facilities too.
Now, you have surely become more familiar with the term “Teahouse” after reading until now. We’ll be discussing more on Teahouses on the Everest Base Camp Trek from here, let’s get through this together.
How are the Teahouses on the Everest Base Camp Trek?
There has been so much of turn around over the years in the Teahouses on the EBC Trek. From a simple tea-serving house to the quality service providing stopovers, the Teahouses and their range of services have changed and are changing until now. The trails of Everest Base Camp Trek are the most walked trekking trails in the world. Being located in the world’s most popular trail makes the lodges and teahouses to upgrade very fast.
The varied service providing teahouses are scattered all over the Everest Base Camp Trail until Gorakshep. You can expect good qualities of Teahouses in the lower regions of Everest Base Camp Trek. Stops like Lukla, Phakding, and Namche Bazaar are fueled with many basic to luxurious teahouses. But as you leave the Namche Bazaar, then your overnights will be at most basic teahouses. Therefore, be ready to accept whatever is in your way ahead.
Now, we have listed the most basic services that you can expect throughout the Everest Base Camp Trek down below:
Accommodation
The early pioneers of the Everest expedition or Everest Base Camp Trek used to have a night rest in the camped tent. But now, you get to lay your back in the basic rooms of tea-houses. How easier it has become than the past. Teahouses of EBC trek provide comfortable enough rooms to spend the night. Depending on the quality of your rooms, you have to pay 2$ to $15 per night. In the basic teahouses, you can expect two single beds in a room with pillows, blankets, and sheets. If lucky there can also be a small-sized table for your convenience. In the case of blankets, that may not be sufficient to hold the night’s cold out from your body, so having a personal sleeping bag is highly suggested.
Foods
Dal Bhat, a Nepali recipe which is also popular as the typical trekking/teahouse food was the only food option in the past periods of EBC trek. But the menus of tea houses have enlarged now with food items of various regions. Some popular dines other than the Dal Bhat that you can get in the EBC treks teahouses are Spaghetti, Toasted bread, Pancakes, Eggs, Porridges, Momo(Dumplings), Pasta, Pizza, Sandwiches, etc. These items can be eaten by paying around 2$ to 8$ per item. But remember the menus get tightened in the higher regions, you will get basic recipes only. Prices are also higher in the upper parts of the trek than the lower ones.
Toilets and Hot showers
Toilets in the Himalayas are not like the ones in your houses. Sometimes it is western toilets and other times it is squat toilets, you cannot exactly expect what is behind the doors of toilets. The western toilets are available in the lower altitude teahouses but hardly yes in the higher parts. Squat toilets don’t have any flush switch like the western ones, rather you have to manually flush with a bucket of water. Therefore, stay ready for whatever toilets you are going into.
You can get cold showers everywhere without a headache and you know no one prefers cold water in the treks like EBC. Everyone wants the hot shower to wash their bodies and finding the hot water in every teahouse can be a problem. The tea houses of the lower region of the trek are equipped with hot showers. But, as you move higher, you will not get hot showers but only hot waters in the bucket. The cost of hot water also jumps with an increase in altitudes which is around $4 to 6$.
Wifi and Charging
The teahouses of EBC trek have evolved so much now from the past that they have services like WIFI and charging. Almost every teahouse from Lukla to Gorak Shep has charging and wifi services. For charging your gadgets, you have to pay an extra charge and so is for the wifi service except in the Namche Bazaar. There are few standard hangouts like Starbucks, Everest Bakeries, and Hermann Helmers who do not charge for wifi.
However, the quality of Wifi speed throughout the trek is slow if too many users are using it. For that, you can buy a Nepali sim card to surf the internet which is a more convenient internet option. In the case of Charging, you will have to charge your things in a communal place of a teahouse. The charging fee is around 1$ to 2$ per hour and the Wifi charge is 2$ to 3$ for an hour.
Some Important Points to remember for Teahouses on the Everest Base Camp Trek
- You can expect quality tea houses around the lower parts of EBC trek
that is until Namche Bazaar.
- The prices related to accommodation and foods do increase with altitudes.
- Switch yourself to the vegetarian food menus cause the Sherpas do not slaughter meat themselves rather they order meats from the lower regions. That ordered meat can be unhygienic to eat.
- For services like hot showers, charging, and wifi you need to pay extra charges.
- Carry an easily compatible sleeping bag for the case of severe cold as clothes of teahouses may not be enough.
- Don’t expect western-style flush toilets everywhere, be equipped with toiletries which are handy in the squat-toilets.
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