At 66 years old, Rana Bahadur Dahal of Chainpur, Sankhuwasabha, carries a backpack like a mountain and makes a steep hike. He is a porter serving people in the Everest region.

Usually, he carries weights of around 55 kg that contain noodles, biscuits, and beverages.

In April, when the Everest climbing season began, he was seen taking a rest after crossing Hilary Bridge. Dahal was heading to Namche Bazaar. At 3,500m, Namche is the staging point for trekking and expeditions to Everest and other Himalayan peaks in the Khumbu area. It has developed into a small, colourful market with a bevy of hotels and restaurants.

“If I keep resting, I will feel tired. I need to keep walking,” Dahal said. “I normally take a short rest from time to time.”

Foreigners are seen passing on the trail, and then queues of yaks and mules transport goods with their bells ringing through the Khumbu region. The bells are the sign that the season has begun on Everest.

Hundreds of people in the region are employed by trekkers and mountaineers—some earn big money, and some earn small.

Dahal, who has been a porter for more than 30 years, earns a living carrying loads on rugged mountain slopes.

The goods used to be ferried by choppers to the Everest base camp, but the local government has stopped it to create jobs for the region’s residents.

Porters have many happy and sad stories.

Tirtha Bahadur Magar, another porter, said he has a job, but he is not happy with the wage.

“I get Rs1,800 a day to carry a backpack of tourists from Lukla. Given the difficulties I face, the amount is simply not enough,” he said.

“We have to spend half the amount on food and accommodation. We save little.”

The Everest region is expensive because everything has to be flown in. People have to pay even to order a glass of hot water. A cup of milk tea and a boiled egg cost above Rs200.

“It is expensive to stay in this area,” said Magar.

Lukla airport, built in 1964 by the Himalayan Trust created by Edmund Hillary, is the gateway to Everest.

The objective of the airport at that time was to ease the transport of supplies to the region. Before the airport was built, people used to take the Jiri trail to reach Everest Base Camp. Jiri to Surkhe is a nine-day trek.

Owing to high costs and unpredictability of flight services, Khumbu locals have long been urging the government to build a road linking the Everest region. Trekkers and mountaineers headed for Everest usually fly into Lukla’s Tenzing-Hillary airport where the trail starts. Lukla is situated at an elevation of 2,860m.

The unpredictable weather means that flight schedules can go haywire for weeks. That means no jobs for trekkers too.

For trekkers and mountaineers, it takes eight days to reach Everest base camp from Lukla and three days to return.

For a slow walker, the up and down duration exceeds two weeks.

Porters are happy as there is no transport service available in the area, at least for now.

Another porter, Meghraj Tamang from Jaleshwari, Khotang, who is currently living in the Khumbu area, said though choppers, yaks, and mules can carry goods, porters are given the first priority. “Getting goods carried from Lukla to Namche costs Rs50 a kg. One porter carries 50kg to 80 kg," said Tamang.

Porters say they make more money carrying trekkers’ backpacks than when they get goods to transport to shops and homes.

“We also get tips from the tourists.”

Tamang said that he earns over Rs40,000 a month, from April to June, the Everest expedition season. His earnings in the autumn—September to November in the peak trekking season—are similar. The Khumbu region sees almost no visitors during the monsoon (June-August) and winter (December-February) seasons.

There is fierce competition between the porters.

“Many trekkers and mountaineers visit the Khumbu region by making contacts with travel agencies who already have their roster of porters. Everyone does not get the opportunity to carry bags,” Tamang said.

Porters say that decades ago, the majority of porters in the Everest region were from the Sherpa community. But nowadays, it is open to all, and most porters are from the eastern hills.

Bhagat Chandra Tamang, another porter, said carrying goods in the rugged terrain is full of risk. “To save money, most porters do not buy enough warm clothes and they eat little. We carry goods by eating whatever we get, and get by on a piece of clothing for the entire season.”

He said that the areas experience frequent snowfall. “We have to tolerate heat, rain, and snow.”

Fu Chittar Sherpa, a trekking guide, said porters carry almost all the bags of trekkers and mountaineers.

Kanchha Tamang, a local from Namche, said locals depend on porters for everything from daily consumables to construction-related goods.

“It is difficult to bring small goods by mule and helicopter. So we make porters carry the goods. They have fixed rates. But during the climbing season, it is difficult to get porters,” said Kanchha Tamang.

Ekka Bahadur Kulung of Mahakulung, Solukhumbu, started working as a porter after completing his 12th grade and has been in the business for the past two years.

The porter needs a doko (a bamboo basket), a stick, a rope to carry the doko, and a tokma, a T-shaped wooden support for the load for resting while standing.