Nobody warns you the teahouse nights are the hard part. Nine small things fix them

Trek Guide The walking is fine. The cold room, thin walls and 4am wake-ups are what wear people down. Nine cheap things that make a teahouse night bearable. By Prakash Tamang · Oct 7, 2026 Read the full story

The walking is rarely what breaks people on a Nepal trek. It is the nights: an unheated plywood room, walls you can hear through, a toilet down a cold corridor, and a sleeping bag that feels colder at 2am than it did at 9pm. On the Everest route in peak… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Why the nights are harder than the days

Because the room is the same temperature as outside, and you are not moving. Teahouse bedrooms have no heating. The warmth is in the dining room, around a stove that is usually fed with yak dung or wood in the evening and left to die after dinner. You walk… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

The nine things, in the order they matter

A liner first, earplugs second, everything else after. This is the list I would give a friend, cheapest fixes first. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

1. A sleeping bag liner

Rent the bag in Thamel for a dollar or two a day; bring your own liner. It adds a few degrees, it is the part that touches your skin, and it means you are not sleeping directly in a bag a stranger used last week. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Hygiene, plus about 8 °C of extra warmth

Buy this even if you rent Sea to Summit Reactor Thermolite Liner The one sleep item everyone should own: it solves the rented-bag hygiene question and turns a borderline bag into a warm one — the warmth claim is optimistic, so treat 8 °C as nearer 5 °C… ↑ Swipe up The one sleep item everyone should own: it solves the rented-bag hygiene question and turns a borderline bag into a warm one — the warmth claim is optimistic, so treat 8 °C as nearer 5 °C in practice. Not for: Nobody who is renting a bag. This is the item that makes renting work. Check price on Amazon Read the full review If you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.

2. Foam earplugs

The single cheapest improvement to a trek. A strip of foam plugs costs almost nothing and turns a wall you can hear through into a wall you cannot. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Teahouse walls are plywood and someone always snores

Best sleep aid Foam earplugs The cheapest thing in this entire catalogue and one of the three most useful — the trade is that you will not hear your alarm, so keep a watch on your wrist with vibration on. ↑ Swipe up The cheapest thing in this entire catalogue and one of the three most useful — the trade is that you will not hear your alarm, so keep a watch on your wrist with vibration on. Not for: Nobody. Take them. Check price on Amazon Read the full review If you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.

3. An eye mask

Headlamps come on at 4am in the next bed. A mask is the difference between waking up then and waking up at six. A soft, contoured sleep mask — paste the Amazon link here before publishing. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

4. Down booties or camp shoes

Boots off the minute you arrive, and something warm on your feet for the dining room and the corridor. Your boots dry out and your feet stop being cold. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

For the four hours between dinner and sleep above 4,000 m

Best for cold lodges Naturehike Down Booties The single best comfort-per-gram item above Dingboche; useless as an outdoor shoe, so most people end up carrying these AND something for outside. ↑ Swipe up The single best comfort-per-gram item above Dingboche; useless as an outdoor shoe, so most people end up carrying these AND something for outside. Not for: Treks that stay below 3,000 m. Your feet will be fine in socks. Check price on Amazon Read the full review If you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.

5. A wide-mouth bottle you can fill with hot water

Ask the kitchen to fill it with boiled water, screw the lid tight, and put it in the foot of your bag. A cheap hot-water bottle that you then drink in the morning. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Also a hot water bottle in your sleeping bag

Best overall Nalgene Wide Mouth 1 L Fill it with boiling water at dinner and it is a hot water bottle all night, then drinking water in the morning — that second job is why we recommend hard plastic over any soft flask above… ↑ Swipe up Fill it with boiling water at dinner and it is a hot water bottle all night, then drinking water in the morning — that second job is why we recommend hard plastic over any soft flask above 4,000 m. Not for: Nobody on a cold trek. The hot-water-bottle trick alone justifies it. Check price on Amazon Read the full review If you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.

6. A headlamp with a red light

For the corridor at 2am without blinding the room. A red setting is the polite version. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

For people already carrying a power bank

Best rechargeable Petzl Actik Core The hybrid design is the honest compromise: charge it off your bank most nights, drop in AAAs when the solar has failed for three days — you pay more than either single-format lamp costs. ↑ Swipe up The hybrid design is the honest compromise: charge it off your bank most nights, drop in AAAs when the solar has failed for three days — you pay more than either single-format lamp costs. Not for: A short low-altitude trek. This is a two-format solution to a two-week problem. Check price on Amazon Read the full review If you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.

7. A warm beanie to sleep in

You lose heat from your head all night. A thin merino beanie is the lightest warmth you will carry. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

Worn from four in the afternoon until you fall asleep

Best warm hat Smartwool Merino Cuffed Beanie Merino stays warm when it is damp with sweat, which a cotton beanie does not — it is thin enough that in real wind you still want a hood over it. ↑ Swipe up Merino stays warm when it is damp with sweat, which a cotton beanie does not — it is thin enough that in real wind you still want a hood over it. Not for: Sub-zero summit mornings on its own. Layer it under a hood. Check price on Amazon Read the full review If you buy through that link we earn a commission. It costs you nothing and it does not change what we recommend — the rental and advice-only entries in our gear guide earn us nothing at all.

8. Wet wipes and a small towel

Showers cost US$2—4 where they exist and get colder the higher you go. Most nights, the wash is a wipe down before you get into the bag. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

9. A power bank that sleeps with you

Charging costs a few dollars a time above Namche, and cold kills batteries overnight. Keep the power bank and your phone inside the sleeping bag. Travel Himalaya Nepal · News Read the full story

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