Teahouse etiquette: dining rooms and sharing tables

Teahouse etiquette in Nepal comes down to a few habits: eat where you sleep, order dinner and breakfast when you arrive, share the stove and the tables, keep your boots and wet gear in their place, keep your voice down when others are sleeping, check and settle the bill clearly and treat the family, the cook, your guide and your porter as people rather than services. The owner's side of the bargain is a cheap room and a warm dining room; your side is the meals, the patience and the manners. None of it is formal, and nobody expects perfection. This guide explains the unwritten rules in the order a day unfolds, using our teahouse trek guide and the route pages for Everest, Annapurna Base Camp and Poon Hill.

The bargain behind the room

The most important custom is also the least visible. Our teahouse guide explains that the room is cheap, sometimes nearly free, because the owner expects you to eat dinner and breakfast there, and that if you eat elsewhere the owner may charge more for the room. That custom is, in its words, the engine of the whole system. It is why you are asked to order food when you arrive, and why a lodge that gives you a good room at a low price may not be pleased if you carry your own noodles and eat them in the corner.

It is also why prices rise with altitude: everything above the road is carried by people and animals, as our Everest page says, so the cost of food, charging, hot showers and Wi-Fi goes up with every day you walk. Do not argue the price of a meal in a village where the supplies were carried in on someone's back. Ask the price before you order, then eat and enjoy.

You can bring snacks for the trail and eat them there; the point is that dinner, breakfast and your bed belong together. If you need to choose a different lodge, say so early and politely instead of arriving, taking a room and then eating elsewhere.

Arriving and ordering

You arrive by mid-afternoon, so there is time to wash socks and change out of sweaty layers. Do these things in order:

1. Greet the owner with a namaste, and ask for a room. See basic Nepali phrases.
2. Check the price for the room with dinner and breakfast, and photograph the price board, as our teahouse guide suggests, to plan your budget.
3. Order dinner early, because everything is cooked to order on a small stove. Many lodges ask for your dinner and breakfast choice at check-in.
4. Ask about hot water and charging, which may cost extra. The Everest page says charging a phone or battery usually costs extra, and the Poon Hill page says some lodges in Ghorepani and Ghandruk have solar hot showers and charging points for a fee.

Keep your order simple at the busiest times. A table of ten trekkers all ordering different dishes at the same minute puts a strain on a kitchen with two burners. Dal bhat is the lodge's most efficient meal and, as our teahouse guide says, usually comes with refills; see dal bhat and the teahouse menu explained.

The dining room and the stove

The dining room is the centre of the lodge. Our teahouse guide says it is often the only heated room, the stove is usually lit around late afternoon, and that is where guides, porters, trekkers from several countries and the family who run the lodge gather. Rooms above about 4,000 m are unheated, so the stove is the main comfort.

A few simple rules keep the dining room pleasant.

• Share tables. In busy weeks tables are shared, and it is normal to sit beside someone you do not know. Say hello, ask where they are headed and make room.
• Do not claim the best seat for your group for the whole evening if others have come in cold. Move along when you have finished your meal.
• Respect the stove. Do not put wet clothes, boots or anything flammable on or against it. Ask the owner before hanging anything to dry, take only your fair share of the rack or rail and take everything with you when you leave.
• Keep the table clear when you have finished, and do not spread maps, electronics and cables across a shared table at mealtime.
• Do not take over the sockets. There may be only one or two in the dining room. Charge when you need to, then unplug.
• Keep your voice at a reasonable level. Others are tired and some are unwell from altitude. A guide's card game is fine; a loud argument is not.

Guides and porters usually eat in the same room, often at a separate table. Do not stare, and do not leave your guide waiting while you finish a long phone call. Our guide versus porter roles explains who does what, and porter welfare and ethical trekking explains how to treat the crew.

Eating well and politely

• Wash your hands before eating. Many lodges provide a basin or a tap; if not, use sanitiser.
• Accept food and tea with your right hand, as our Tamang Heritage page says of homestays, and watch how others eat before you choose a spoon or your fingers.
• Do not waste food. Order what you will eat. Everything was carried up.
• Say thank you and, if you liked the meal, "mito ts'ha" (it was delicious), in the Wikivoyage spelling.
• Say if you are finished. Hosts may offer more; "pugts'ha" means enough.
• Tell the kitchen about dietary needs when you order, not when the plate arrives.

Water is a subject of its own. Buy boiled or filtered water for your bottle, or treat your own, and read water bottles, filters and tablets compared for the options.

Rooms, boots and wet gear

Rooms are basic: twin beds, thin walls, no heating above about 4,000 m. Habits that help:

• Take your boots off at the door of the lodge or the dining room if others do, and leave them in the place provided.
• Do not hang wet clothes over the beds in a way that drips on other people's belongings.
• Keep your gear tidy. A small room shared with a partner gets crowded fast.
• Keep your headlamp by your bed, because electric light may be limited, as our Manaslu and Mustang pages say, and a headlamp is courteous when you leave early; see headlamps and night gear.
• Close doors gently. Walls are thin, and many people go to bed early, often by eight or nine in the cold.
• Use the toilet carefully. Shared toilets are simple. Leave them as you found them, and use the bin or carry your paper if there is no bin.

Early starts and quiet

Pre-dawn starts are common: the Poon Hill sunrise, Kala Patthar and the high passes. Pack the night before, put your boots by the door and use a small light. Our headlamp guide covers the route pages that say walks start in the dark. Keep zips quiet, and do not rustle bags for twenty minutes at four o'clock.

Paying and tipping

Check the price board when you arrive, order from the menu and settle the bill when you leave, checking the total against the prices. Carry rupees in small notes, because machines are scarce above the lower villages and lodges may not have change. Pay in cash unless the lodge says otherwise. If a bill looks wrong, ask politely and calmly; most mistakes are honest.

Tipping is customary for guides and porters at the end of a trek, according to our Manaslu page. We do not quote amounts, because no verified source exists; ask your agency what is usual on your route, and agree the approach with your partner.

Guides, porters and other trekkers

You are in a shared space with people who work there and people who walk there. A few extra points:

• Treat the cook and the family as hosts. Ask the owner's name and use it.
• Include your guide and porter in decisions about the next day, and make sure they have a bed and food. Our region pages say agencies should provide proper clothing, equipment and insurance for porters; check.
• Respect other trekkers' sleep and space, and remember that someone at the next table may be struggling with altitude. If someone looks unwell, tell the owner or their guide; see altitude sickness basics.
• Keep conversations kind. Dining rooms are a good place to find partners, but do not push people to join your plans. Our guide to meeting partners in Kathmandu hostels and forums explains better ways.

Photography and gifts

Ask before photographing the family, the kitchen or the staff. See photography etiquette. Do not give sweets or money to children; donate to a school or committee through your guide, as explained in visiting local homes and gift-giving etiquette.

Planning and sharing

Because teahouse costs are per person and the guide and porter are shared, trekking with a partner makes the dining room social as well as cheaper. Each person pays for their own meals and extras; see teahouse prices by altitude and what to agree with trekking partners before you book. The Everest Base Camp partner page, Annapurna Base Camp partner page and Poon Hill partner page list people planning those routes, and the Everest Base Camp, Annapurna Base Camp and Poon Hill itineraries show the lodge stops. For other customs, return to the culture and etiquette guide. The best teahouse manners are noticing, thanking and leaving the dining room as warm as you found it.