Pilgrims Guesthouse
Budget Accommodations
If you want a cheap place to stay in Kathmandu, try Pilgrim’s Guest House. A room costs an average of $10/day. The rooms are very basic, but if you don’t plan on spending much time in your room, it’s a great bargain. The staff are extremely friendly (especially Sunny, who manages the garden restaurant and bar).
For breakfast, try the Nepali Style…fried wheat rounds, a potato & pea curry, fresh fruit and tea or coffee. The chicken chili was too salty for my taste, but the chicken fried rice was tasty. Most of the other food was average and inexpensive. Disappointing was the fact that many of the items on the menu couldn’t be made because of an inexperienced cook (like the tandoori recipes).
Be sure to ask for a candle since Kathmandu has load sharing where the power is out four hours at a time, twice a day. It’s only really a problem at night when you’re trying to take a shower. The good news is that even during an outage, you can still get food since everything is cooked by oil.
Pilgrim’s also offers laundry service (cheap) and will arrange transportation for you. You can even sign up for trekking tours in near the reception desk.
While I’ve stayed in much nicer places when traveling, this is the first time I’ve gotten to really know the staff and they got to know me. It made for a more personal experience.
