food · Nathang Valley, Gangtok
Butter tea and the yak herders of Nathang
Yaks are the reason people can live in this valley. They give milk, butter and cheese, wool and hair for ropes and blankets, dung for fuel, and they carry loads where vehicles cannot go. In the morning herders take them out to graze the slopes, and in the evening bring them back. From a homestay window or the roadside you can watch this daily round without getting in its way.
Most homestay kitchens keep a pot of tea on the stove. Ask for butter tea, the salted, buttery tea of the Tibetan world, made by churning tea with butter and salt. It is an acquired taste, more soup than tea to many first-timers, but at this height and cold it makes sense. Many homes also offer chhurpi, the hard cheese made from yak or cow milk, which you suck slowly like a sweet.
Pay for what you eat and drink, in cash, and ask before taking photographs of people, kitchens or animals. Keep well clear of the yaks; they are calm but strong and protective of calves. If you have only an hour on the drive between Zuluk and Kupup, a cup of tea in a kitchen here tells you more about Nathang than any viewpoint. Leave a little extra if the family will not take payment for the tea.
Good for
Questions people ask
Good to know
What is butter tea
Butter tea is tea churned with butter and salt, drunk across Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan's high country. It is rich, salty and warming, more like a thin soup than sweet milk tea. At 4,000 m it helps keep you warm. Try a small cup first. Homestays will usually also make ordinary milk tea if you prefer it.
What is chhurpi
Chhurpi is a traditional cheese of the eastern Himalaya, made from yak or cow milk. The soft form is used in cooking; the hard form is dried into small, very tough pieces that you suck or chew slowly for a long time. It is sold in markets across Sikkim and Darjeeling. Ask before buying in a homestay, and pay in cash.
Can we ride or touch the yaks at Nathang
No. The yaks at Nathang are working animals belonging to herding families, not tourist rides. Keep a few metres away, especially from mothers with calves, and never feed them. If you want a yak ride, Tsomgo Lake has handlers who offer short rides for about ₹300–600, indicative 2026. Here, just watch and photograph from a respectful distance.
Also in Nathang Valley
