Tea Houses in Annapurna Region: Things you need to know

Annapurna Circuit Trek is the most diverse and famed trekking area of Nepal. The Annapurna Region has many trekking destinations to offer; this region offers a classic trek. Every year thousands of tourists hike through Annapurna Region.

The central accommodation of this region is ‘Tea Houses.’ In this region, you cannot find fully facilitated hotels, so all you get is a tea house for the stays and food. You will find tea houses throughout your trek; the locals of this region run the tea houses. Towards the west, Annapurna Region, which has been protected in a conservation area, has been managed by the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC). NTNC monitors the tea houses of the region, rectifying the price and facilities. You will find the price quite reasonable for the facilities you are getting in such a rural area.

Tea houses are built at certain distances for specific trekking routes. With the change in time, the facilities are developing and getting better. The accommodations from one tea house to the other may vary due to the nature of the owner of the available resources. You will get all the basic needs during the trekking night stays. You will be able to have warm and delicious food, a shower, a warm and cozy bed, and wifi is available in some of the tea houses for a fee.

You will have a homely environment with the locals. This is also an opportunity for you to taste the local and authentic foods; you will also get to know the cultures and traditions followed by the local people of the Annapurna Region. You will have many other trekkers in the tea houses, as this region is popular among the trekkers. You must know that you cannot expect a high standard of service and rooms in this region because it is not a city area, and the locals here try to give their best to tourists as it is their source of income. You can find a few luxurious guest houses and tea houses with high prices, but almost all the tea houses are local.

There are few things you need to know about the tea houses in this region, and they are:

Meals at Teahouse

Some tea houses may have more food items, and some have less, but the food mentioned above items are the most used food in the menus of the tea houses. For drinks, you can have a cold drink or juices. Most of the time, when you enter a tea house, you are welcomed by a cup of black tea. The tea houses have the same menu most of the day for the trekkers.

Breakfast

• Juice, tea, or coffee
• Bread and butter
• Toast with jams
• Hash brown potatoes
• Chapati

Lunch and Dinner

• Dal-bhat tarkari (local food)
• Momo and chowmin
• Pasta and noodle-soup
• Sandwiches
• Puddings ( as a dessert)

The food mentioned above items is regular on the menu in most of the tea houses. There might be differences and addition in the food menu from one to another tea house. You can also find chips and popcorns for little extra hunger. The trekkers also go to the kitchen to give some hands to the locals sometimes. Dah bhat and tarkari (rice and lentil) are in the local food in Nepal for lunch and dinners. We refer you to have freshly made foods during the journey to avoid sickness.

Private and Shared Rooms

Most of the rooms in tea houses consist of two beds. They provide you with a pillow and blanket; the beds are mostly with clean sheets and comfortable. The rooms of most of the tea houses have similar setups, they have small drawers for your bags and other stuff and the bed set. We recommend you always carry your sleeping bag for your comfort.

Private rooms are the single rooms where you can enjoy the whole room by yourself and privacy is highly maintained. A shared room refers to the room where you have another trekker as your partner. You will have your separate beds but the room is common. Sometimes there are many trekkers at one time, so the tea house gets crowded, so we try to reserve rooms for you in advance.

Dinning

Dinning refers to the communal area of the tea house. Here all the trekkers sit together to have their breakfast, lunch, and dinners. During the trekking seasons, the place is highly crowded. You will see here trekkers enjoying and sharing their experiences. Many stories are shared, you will get a chance to meet and greet new people. This place turns strangers into friends through the sharing of trekking journeys.

Toilet and Bathrooms

Finding showers is not easy in this region. You will somehow find showers in the low elevation tea houses. Hot water for the shower is not available most of the time so we never assure you of the hot water bath. You can use wet tissues to clean yourself somehow through the journey.

In tea houses, you will find either western toilets or the traditional squat toilet in Nepal. You will be provided with water and soaps but you should bring tissue paper for yourself. At first, you might feel uncomfortable with toilet styles but you will get used to it after some trekking days.

Electricity and Wifi connections

Most of the tea houses in Nepal are running with solar power for electricity. It is difficult to connect the electricity in this region throughout the year so they use solar power. During the heavy rains and lightening, the powers cut off themselves to use their reserved powers in such times.

You can charge your phones and cameras while you are in the tea house. You will have lights in your room. You will have to pay some money to use the wifi in the tea house per hour. The charging outlets are mostly available in the dining area. Unfortunately, wifi is not available in many tea houses. The wifi and network connections are not so strong in this region. The charging points are often busier in the tea houses as more people and fewer power points.

Following are the things you may carry for an easy stay in tea houses:

• Earplugs
• Wet tissues and toilet papers
• Power bank
• Thermos  bottle (for keeping warm waters)
• Books to read in free time
• Extra rupees for small purchases
• Torchlight
• Sleeping bags, etc