As of 2024, wild camping is not recommended by the trail organizers for the majority of the trail. So if you’re a hiker who enjoys sleeping in the wilderness, you’ll be sadly disappointed. You can, of course, stealth camp at your own discretion – but the organizers will state that you should seek landowner permission before sleeping under the stars. Bear in mind that most of the time you will be hiking in tea plantations, and the only option to stealth camp will be in workers’ shelters, or weighing stations – both of which have a roof and no walls – long after everyone has gone home. There is, however, an amazing designated wild camping spot at Haritha Kanda on section 9 of the trail.
The officially accepted way is to spend the night in guesthouses, some of which will also allow you to set up a tent. When the trail first opened, finding guesthouses directly on the route was very difficult in some sections, but this will no doubt change fast as locals open businesses.
The Pekoe Trail’s main website and trail notes are severely lacking when it comes to accommodation information. Many of the hotels mentioned on the website’s accommodation list are very expensive, and not the kind of accommodation that the usual thru-hiker will be expecting!
You will need to rely on the Pekoe Trail Facebook page, where hikers have listed all of the accommodation options for each section, and where more and more locals will be advertising their newly-opened stays as the months pass. This Facebook page is essential for successfully planning a thru-hike.
Of course, staying in guesthouses means that this won’t be the cheapest hike you’ll do – so you will need to factor this into planning.
