Teahouses and homes along the Everest trail

 Every few hours one walks into / through a tiny village of maybe a few homes and a teahouse or two.  It is what makes reeking in this part of the Himalaya unique in that most of the big treks can be done with little to no tent camping.  

That said,  the Hughe one goes the more basic are the accommodations. Most teahouse have several sleeping rooms and almost all have a main dining area with the focal point being a cast iron stove.

 The center point of heat on cold nights 

In the lower areas (below the tree line) mostly wood is burned as fuel. 

Once you are above the tree line the tea houses collect yak dung and make pancakes out of them and then set them out to dry in the sun.  After a few days of sufficient drying, they are loaded into the stove along with a cup of kerosine and it burns for several hours.  Surprisingly there is not sent of yak dung at all.

Hundreds of yak "patties" drying in the sun.

A normal day on the trail has you getting to the tea house mid to late afternoon. Grab a hot drink and then put in an order for dinner.  The options are pretty basic. Mostly soups and noodles along with  rice dishes and vegetables.  They occasionally would have a sweet.  

Curry vegetables with rice 

Post dinner is usually occupied with congregating around the stove for heat and drying out equipment. The fire runs down around 8 and its best to be in your sleeping bag for the rest of the night.  No late nights in the mountains. 

Breakfast is between 6:30 and 7:30 and my go to is usually porridge (sticky outmeal or a few eggs and bread.  Lots of black tea to go with everything.

That is a day in a nutshell!