Inside The Hidden Hotels That Keep Mount Everest Running | Inside Everest | Business Insider
The Everest base-camp trek takes days and over 100 kilometers of hiking. Along the journey, teahouses provide a hot meal and a warm bed. But the porters, who carry upwards of 45 kilograms each day, usually stay in separate lodging from the climbers who hire them. And at over 4,200 meters, getting anything to a teahouse, whether on back or by yak, is a logistical nightmare. So, what's it like inside these teahouses? And how do you run a business at the top of the world?
Makalu Adventure: makaluadventure.com/
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00:00 - Intro
00:45 - How Supplies Get Up The Mountain
01:14 - Mount Everest Porters
02:19 - Journey To The Teahouse
02:57 - Resting In Dingboche
05:00 - Inside Shiva's Teahouse In Pheriche
06:29 - Preparing Dinner For Porters
07:35 - Compared To The Climber's Lodge
08:43 - Cost Of Running An Everest Teahouse
11:00 - The Value Teahouses provide
12:26 - Finishing The Trek
13:10 - Credits
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Inside The Hidden Hotels That Keep Mount Everest Running | Inside Everest | Business Insider
The porters are the heroes. They work hard risking their lives to provide for their families. I have great respect for them.
Not just here. In Japan while hiking, I came across a porter crew like this, carrying supplies up to the teahouse(s) containing ingredients and just loads of water. Granted their pace isn't the same as the Nepalese, but you just can't help but respect their commitment.
I guess everybody everywhere has stupid jobs
@@forkrunner2313 👎👎👎👎👎
@@forkrunner2313What exactly is a stupid job? Uneducated? Low paid? If so, you'll have to include 98% of all women and 100 % of the children worldwide, who work jobs like these carriers. Without all of them, our whole world would stop within 24 hrs. You wouldn't wear sneakers; they are sewn by women in economic tax-free zones earning $3/day. Or drink coffee: it's harvested by farmers earning $2/day. How much are your sneakers and your latte? You understand that the crumbs falling off our tables very seldom reach those who deserve it. Some information is the best cure for ignorance.
same with kilimanjaro
Mad respect for the film crew for going up the mountains to bring us this story!
Thanks for watching!
That tea house owner just shows what it's about in life: community and being of service while staying humble. Sheeva is a hero ❤
well said...
It’s spelled Shiva
Potato Patato
@@hrisikeshbhattacharya5467 shut up
Meanwhile our political leaders are enjoying lavish lifestyles and tourism top level management team is busy in welcoming bike riders for promoting local tourism😢
Understandable why a tea costs 10x more than normal
Indeed. Hopefully the Porters get a cut, but I doubt it.
Definitely more understandable than every city center / average airport doing the same thing.
Duh, perhaps
Actually things were not that expensive for the effort it takes to make it to that place.
@@mariyakalynyuk162 that's for the people carrying the goods to decide.
Kudos to BUSINESS INSIDER for a detailed coverage on the Highest peak of the world!
Thank you. You know what it is.
But the biggest lies in the pacific. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyah wgah'nagl ftaghn!
Absolutely agree, people should watch this to learn that they aren't being magically ported there
you’ve got some brown shmutz on your nose @sarthaktelang05
these guys are the real superman really.
no, they have back that will eventually wear out and won't be able to walk or lift anything anymore. their bodies will rot over time
@@JohnLennonisMeyour body rot too brother, everyone body rot overtime due to aging
@@JohnLennonisMe at least better than eating burgers and being over fat.... These people are healthy and fit than u imagine...Company leaching off of them is the problem though
They really are superhuman in some real ways. Through generations, their bodies have adapted in incredible ways. There's a very interesting video about it - search MedLifeCrisis + Sherpa.
I've noticed in most of these documentaries, they all seem so happy and they all help/encourage each other....they are making fractions of what they deserve for all the hard,physically draining work. But, they seem waaay happier than people with millions of dollars. Something to be said about that 😮
Yep. Work hard, get honest pay. No fuss, no performance reviews, no fake competition. Hard work, easy life.
Actually they have a extrem hard life but seems like Nepalese people don't show other people their suffer.
they're not getting honest pay they're being very underpaid, especially the climbing guides @@curbyourshi1056
@@pepsicherry6389Hard times also make tough people so really "hard" is relative..
I don't know you walk 20km in mountains See how chill you are.
It’s absolutely wild these guys are only getting paid $10-$12/day for that extreme effort.
I know right? That wouldn’t even cut it hourly for what they do 🤦🏻♀️
food and rent is also a lot cheaper for them
And the lodges make millions.
Yeah but at the same time the buying power that 10-12 dollars has over there is way different then in the US so on and so forth.
They do get good tips though. Still not enough
It’s not fair that the locals get paid so little whilst the tour companies profit. The system of tourism is broken
i always thought these peopple made good money. but 12 dollars is small even for their currency
It happens to alot of people all over the world,esp to farmers who havest the most valued commodities like chocolate and coffee ..it is a sad world.
Lol, and the irony is, the tour companies are all owned by non locals.
@@badfoodythey do make good money for where they live.
@@acow9966keep telling yourself that. It’s enough to get by on but not for many of the things we consider essential like a secure future or education for our children
Hubris on full display. Everest is the ultimate "look at me" vanity excursion.
Can't agree more
Correct. It's a bunch of sheep climbing ladders.
It's only for the rich, it cost too much to climb the mountain
Yes. Many years ago I was into mountaineering and not bad at it. In my youth I wanted to climb Mt. Everest. Now I have almost zero desire to, especially when I see footage of the conga line of rich climbers being hauled to the top by elite Sherpas.
I think a lot of vacations are like this. It cost a wad of cash so yeah you have to have that but I’m curious if some people’s true motivation isn’t solely to show off but to challenge themselves & find a once in a lifetime type of vacation. Just cause you have cash & take exotic trips doesn’t mean you’re just doing it for vanity sake. Who wouldn’t want to globetrot & do super cool shit along the way. I thought it would be neat to save a bunch of cash & climb Kilimanjaro. 😢maybe I’m hubris?!
So nice that you recognized these superheroes by making this documentary. They too deserve to be applauded for their extreme hard work!!!
Thanks for watching!
Five years ago I stayed in Everest area for two months, working for a NGO in a village two days down lukla. That village can now be (hardly) reached by car, but at that time the first road was three walking days away, so everything had to be carried on back or with donkey (yaks are only used higher). I talked to a lot of porters that were providing all the goods for the village and also for trekking lodges on the Everest trek. I can say that these people are absolute beast ! Most of the dude i talked to carried around 80kg, and some of then can go up to 110kg. I didn't believe them at first, but i was absolutely unable to move their bad at all lol. The most shocking day for me was when I talked to a dude that was carrying only beer bottles. It was easy to read the weight of one bottle and then calculate the complete load, which was 110kg, this absolutely blew my mind. The guy was 45, not skinny but definetely not super jacked...
To be fair, they choose to live in such an area with high difficulty. One can live a natural lifestyle and still think logically about ones own routes and logistics.
Very Good story
I love that even though everyone involved in getting hikers up and down the mountain, from porters and tea shop owners to guides, have to work so so hard, they are proud of that mountain and proud of their work. Proud of sharing it with others.
The porters may not be so proud when they are declined access to food and lodging at a decent site.
why do you love that tho
@@jojojo9240 because so rare is it to see someone take pride in their work anymore.
@@corinnebutler3353 Like most sherpas, they don't really even have a choice, it's not so much pride, it's more of a must to earn for their families.
They’re getting exploited
The porters and guides don't get paid nearly enough. They are the ones climbing and carrying all their gear. I think they need a union or someone to advocate for them to get higher wages. Just because they are native to this country and are willing and able to do their jobs, doesnt mean they need to be paid less. Yes, they are very grateful for the work. I have alot of respect for these men and women. They are doing this hard, dangerous work for their families and especially to educate their children.
They do have a union brother. Mountain guides and trek guides are paid well. Its the porters who are being treated so badly. Trekking companies should be more generous to these porters in terms of wages. It's the trekking companies who make all the money and pay very low wages to porters. The system is fucked.
I guess they don't have medical insurance, what's funny is that they don't have a wage big enough for an insurance company to offer them such benefits
The same could be said for US teachers.
Did the Everest Base Camp trek in 2014 (coincidentally 1 day after the huge Thorong La disaster where all the hikers/porters died... glad we happened to choose EBC instead of Annapurna). Anyway, I remember trying to carry the load the porters carried for about 100m... it crushed me. Those porters are superhuman.
They are heroes but we probably could carry so much more if we trained our bodies 😅 they didn’t carry so much right away
Mind you, altitude doesn't affect them like it does visitors
@@mariyakalynyuk162 They're literally physiologically built different you would never be able to train your body to acclimate to altitude like they do, you are literally physically incapable of ever being as effecient as them, you cant train new genes/adaptions from thousands of years of living in high altitude.
@@franks2840 interesting, in almost the reverse of conditions here: Bajao divers in southeast asia had enlarged spleens enabling them to hold their breaths longer.
@shaider1982 Bajao divers and the sherpa people are truly superhuman
Real unsung heroes of the climbing communities. They deserve far more than this!
Can i just say ive been loving these daily vids of Mount Everest and the Sherpa people❤
Thanks for watching!
That's kinda fucked up that lodge's don't allow porters to stay
I'm betting you that most of the climbers don't even think about where "the help" is staying overnight. out of sight, out of mind.
@@juliajs1752 Do you think about where the guy who cooks your french fries stays overnight?
@@glennwatson3313does the guy who cooks the French fries hike up Mount Everest for 7 hours?
@@twicebang4556 No, he stands in front of a hot filled with grease for 8 hours then goes home smelling like MacDonald's. And nobody calls him a hero.
@@twicebang4556 By the way, you never answers my question. Do you think about where the guy who cooks your french fries stays overnight? Yes or no? If not then get off your high horse.
Man, that is tough work. Much respect to these porters.
Shiva being the porter's sathi, big kudos and a pat on the shoulder just for you! Yeah, porters work really, really hard. They deserve a decent meal, lodge and more importantly the warmth they can get from local support. Always wondered where porters are when everyone else is comfortably settled down at their lodges. Its definitely a super tough job, not many can imagined... but this video gives every trekker another perspectives to appreciate :) Thanks to the production team.
The Porters food looks more appetizing than the tourists rice w lettuce.
I’m loving this entire mini series
Thanks for watching!
thank you for watching my proter life story
Sushant has such positive outlook towards his life at such young age
thank you for watching my proter life's story
The fun fact is that these porters working this hard and carry all this weight to the top is not only because of money but i think the main drive is when they reach their destination they get to meet their fellows have little chat and drink together. that is the dopamin hit right there, for them. Human connection.
I went to base camp just before thanksgiving of last year. It was beautiful but insanely difficult. I have no idea how the porters carried our things and I have nothing but respect for them. It was an amazing trek that I highly recommend as long as you are extremely well prepared.
I have made several trips to Mount Everest base camp through the various routes and I am good friends with some of the guides and sherpas. They tell me that more than one occasion their customers have not given them a single tip at the end of the long trek, even though they customarily order 4 items on the menu morning, noon and evening. I am incredulous about how Inconsiderate trekkers can be. That spend $100s $1000x of dollars to get here and then nickel and dime the people who actually get them to their destination. it’s appalling, particularly among young trekkers .
Those who don't even tip the porters and sherpas are pure evil narcissists!!!
To be honest I don't know how much tipping helps them. They shouldn't rely on customers' generosity. Porters should get paid what they deserve as the base income. I do not tip my doctors or professors and same should happen here. They have to earn what they deserve without relying on me calculating how much their work is worth because who am I to decide what a fair wage is. I would much rather pay what they are worth without the guilt tripping of thinking they are giving me free labor if I don't tip enough. Tipping them is of course better than nothing, but only a patch to the actual problem.
Great for covering this Business Insider. Disgusted how the porters are treated and get so little in return. It'll cost nothing for the climber to pay for the person who is carrying his luggage to lodge and get a good meal in the hotel with him.... unbelievable!
The reason why the tea house doesn't charge to stay is because the porters wouldn't pay for beds, because they're saving all their money, and because if the tea house didn't have beds, they would just sit and sleep at the tables, even if the owner only meant it as a place to serve food. So with the way the culture is, the only reason why he has beds at all is because he knows they'd be crowding his place anyways. At that point it's all about attracting business by offering freebies, because free beds is almost impossible to compete against. It's not that the porters can't pay....they're making a ton of money and saving it for when the season is over. The less they spend, the more they'll go home with, so they spend as little as possible.
Colorado Springs hiking was intense. The air is so thin. I can’t imagine hiking Everest 😎
Sherpa Prime Delivery: These people are amazing.
Some strong brave people. Incredible determination
This world is so connected when it comes to food, the thick four porridge meal is very common in Kenya, it is called ugali and can be made from corn((maize), millet or cassava.
Shit like this makes me thankful to have a job that pays well, let alone work from home. I'm honestly disturbed knowing they make in a whole day what I make in half an hour.
Maybe u should get back to work
Imagine carrying one's own body weight of goods/supplies for days and then being declined food/lodging at a decent location - What a shame.
Its Saturday you clown @@lightfox11
The west clearly exploited the east Nepal included and weakened their currencies, otherwise u would be working as a porter for $0/hr.
@@Biztalkcontrolcenter There is a difference indeed between low wages and slavery, is that what you're getting at?
This Nepal Series is amazing, thanks!
Himalayan Mountain people are the happiest people, I have ever met.
Those porters are heroes man
I want this man to have the world! he seems so humble
Thanks to these Poor Porters , who work so hard to get food on the table for their family. AlMost all Nepali people are Naive, Hardworking , Simple and Open hearted. .Kudos to these Sherpas and helpers for making the Everest Climb possible for Many Trekkers. .Without them None can achieve that feat
My wife and hiked up to base camp last year, we were completely blown away by how strong those workers were. Snooker tables and full sized espresso machines at some of the final teahouses
Business Insider, you are such a blessing
Such impressive people being paid so little for the extreme weights. I hope these western tourists tip these brave porters and guides handsomely after job well done.
Maybe they should ask the government for a cut of the 15000 they get per climber, westerners already paying enough
@@user-vv2wx4kc1k yes they should that to. And the climbers should pay more to the sherpas. Hopefully the strike one season and leave all the climbers on the summit. That would be fun!
@@johnbeans2000 Don't be silly. If they tried to kill off all the tourists, how do you think that would work out for tourism there?
@@John_Smith_86 what are you talking about? I never said they should kill anyone. Simply that they should go on strike. I don't know why you don't want to pay poor struggling people a good wage when they risk their lives so they can crap all over Everest. If you want to exploit poor people do so. I'm not comfortable with paying them such measly wages.
@@johnbeans2000 And how do you think the tourists will do on Mount Everest without them? I don't know why you wanna cripple Nepal's economy, but I am not comfortable with you trying to murder so many people
Excellent doc. Thank you for shedding light on this situation. Porters, hotel owners and guides are not getting paid enough for their hard work. While the tour operators take the biggest piece of the pie for the least amount of work.
- Wow that tea shop man is so kind. Like he said, "why treat them bad like others, we're all here *BECAUSE* of them!" What a great, yet sad story. 😔
Really enjoying this Inside Everest series 😊 Thanks Business Insider!
Basic business sense to treat the Porters who bring the supplies to you to sell very well. I wouldn't even charge them for their food. Those climbers would pay for the Porters' food and lodging and wouldn't even bat an eyelid.
That's why when i went trekking yesterday, I bought some drink in resting spot. It costs 2.5 times than normal, my colleague complained it's to expensive. I rebuke him and said, do you think they just teleport their items here? 🤦🏼♀️ In the end, I kinda complained at my guide when he said the waterfall is a shortcut home after trekking 😅 He never told us that we have to climb down using a rope, he just explain it later after we arrived 🫠
Love you Nepal 🇳🇵
I’ve always considered sherpas and porters to be the actual mountaineers everyone else is just a tourist looking for selfies. For Tibetans this stuff is literally in their DNA their blood processes oxygen more efficiently and can survive without supplemental oxygen at altitudes that would kill the rest of us. Absolute respect. Also their food bangs. Almost all the Indian restaurants around me are run by Nepali families and I haven’t found a bad one yet.
Human beings are another version of cosmic ants I swear. The image of the tiny uncle lifting all that weight up a mountain for a couple bucks 😢🙏🏼
Hard working guys with honesty
Oh..really feeling sorry for such heroes. Our lives depends on them. I would like to thanks to them 🙏😊
Sheeva Definitely doesnt look 55. Great way to stay in amazing shape for the porters.
Mad respect for porters all over the world!
absolutely
Very good Documentary 👍🏻
Mad respect for the porters ❤
Tbh these people made me feel emotional , emphatic and sympathetic like i never had, The load they carry even in oldage to earn daily bread .
Great story about some great humans😌🙌🏽
I just hope that Business Insider paid Sherpas well for being interviewed in this video. Based on the views.
I have the feeling they paid them according to the "rules"
Why do they have to pay them asking questions. Would you not tell a stranger the stories of your home and culture for free?
@@kennar012 you really think they just only want tell the story? they call themselves "BUSINESS insider" just please reflect on that.
@@kennar012 Because that's what good business people do tf? We know you don't tip or help nobody 🤦🏿♀️
I would have loved this video to be 3x longer - this was so fascinating!
This is real one five star hotel of mountains......
I will never complain about working hard again.
I’m shocked that they only make $12 a day that is a disgrace the climbers the tour guides and all should be paying those porters a lot more than $12 a day makes me sick
Probably 4x times more than they would get working in Nepal , makes me sick knowing there's Nepalese people paying Nepalese people so little in nepal
The climbers do have steep Tesla payments to consider..
Siva ji is truly human being Porter are backbone this route . Lots of respect for porter ❤❤❤❤ .
incredible coverage thank u
Hats off to the porters n tea stall owner guy... really inspired by these people...m sure the tourist,tour guides,porters etc people all are work different jobs to support themselves but i think what i believe is that ..10-11 dollars is way tooo less for the porters... they should be given more
I saw a porter carrying a fridge. I asked my guide how much he earns and the guide replied maybe less than 10 USD, and that's for work that takes a few days. And they are happy to be working. That made me realise those of us who are always complaining about how shitty life is, well, let them watch this clip. I notice too, on my way up to EBC, how the porters would sit together resting and sharing words and they were really happy despite the journey.
The porters don't make less than 10 USD for a few days work, and that too carrying a fridge or heavy load. Of course, their wages aren't living wages to be honest, but that figure is way too low. Since they don't have language skills and some can barely read, they are limited to purely manual labour for a living-- but our 'socialist' government with many communist parties sharing the power turning a blind eye to these conditions is hypocrisy at its best/worst. Unions exist, but they are affiliated to one political party or another and do not care about the plights of the porters/guides. I actually work as a trekking guide myself, and the wages that most guides are paid isn't great either but compared to the porters, the wages are a little higher and their are other perks too.
Thanks to all tea house owner and hardworking porters for their valuable contributions in tourism sector❤
every day is leg day
After all this struggling , Home is heaven for me..
What a unique and interesting topic! You guys did a great job documenting this I’m sure a lot of work went into it. Thanks
Respect nepalese bcuz they are giving everything for your beautiful adventure ❤❤jay nepal and respect mountain warriors❤❤they are real super man❤❤listen guys he is 55 years old..huge respect for that guy and god bless for his family❤❤
Omg I made it into the video how cool, 2:50 that’s me in yellow jacket 😅
Did you pay the porters better than $12?
Did you make it to the peak ?
how was it lol
@@roserocks1979If not what, you gonna judge her and label her as a bad person?
you were doing EBC trek?
Many Sherpas had reached summit of Mt Everest much before Hillary. But the West, as is their nature, didn't want this to be in history books. They put their wh ite guy first. Sherpas are innocent and simple people and didn't mind the deception.
There's no evidence to prove this. Everest is considered sacred so climbing it was discouraged but even if that wasn't the case, mountaineering for the sake of it, especially when the locals had almost no access to appropriate gear and with their knowledge of the dangers, it just wasn't done. There had been multiple Everest expeditions decades before Hillary and Norgay's, all of which failed, that resulted in many fatalities. Most sherpas still say that if there were other opportunities, they would not work on Everest and they discourage their children from doing so because it's so dangerous
@@Cara-39 So you swallow Western narratives. 😆
@@shreeveda No need to accept any narrative when the facts are easily accessible. Anyone can use Google and read, may want to try it
The porters are the true heroes. They do all the work.
The amount of efforts these people is worth more recognition and financial reward! Dear All, Come to Nepal because we all are working to make your visit in Nepal worthwhile !
Wow. Paying for accomodations for that much money while paying the porters so low. Injustice.
You can see this worldwide.
Not just the low wages but declining decent food and accommodations as well.
Truth. The middle man always gets rich. And everyone else poorer.
hello everyone Namaste all of you Thank you for watching my proter life story so now i,am youngest boy
Hi hope you are doing well
Keep on keeping on Porter.
The 18 year old has the golden mentality, he is so positive that I have no doubt he will have a fulfilling life
3:31 $11-12 a day? then where the hell does the upcharge for the carried goods come from? these guys get paid $10 for increasing the price of the goods they carry in each load by hundreds of dollars! if we assume they carry 40kg of rice for a week up to where it resells for $60/kg, and we assume it was bought in the valley for $5/kg, that's a total markup of $2200, $314 per day! what's going on, who is keeping these guys as wage slaves, why can't they just buy the goods in the valley and resell them on the mountain, and thus get paid roughly the real market value of their work?
Take it from someone that worked just 10 years at ups and has degenerative disc disease at 39 you dont wanna do that job too long!
THEY ARE IN GREAT SHAPE FOR SURE
videos like this make me realize how blessed I am
Despite the advances in recognition and respect for sherpas, segregation in treatment is clear in this video and is demoralizing to see.
Indeed it is shameful how the well off keep the riffraff out regardless that the porters do the heavy lifting. It reminds me of folks eating inside restaurants during the mask mandates - only the so called 'help' were forced to wear the face coverings.
Huge respect to the porters and the Nepalese people.
That's how I know, how blessed I am to live an easy life. I thank Lord for His mercies. Food on table, shoes on foot...
Such an amazing POV that I had never imagined of
I love these videos they are soo interesting , informative and we'll done
And I thought I was a good hiker.. these guys not only hike for miles but carry bags as much as their own body weight doing so.. these porters are like soldiers hats off to them.
Excellent documentary. Hard working people .God bless.
Wow that’s a tough job full respect to the porters and everyone else involved 🙏
Profound thoughts and relatable
Most people are not climbers they are trekkers going no further then Everest Base Camp or Gokyo in the other valley.Porters are the unsung heroes of Nepal.
With out these men the climbers would not be able to do it on there own these men do all the hard work
So peaceful❤
I thought my life was tough and my problems are bigger. Now I am humbled
truly amazing documentary 👋👋👋
My utmost respect to the porters 🙏
As a hobby I love learning about cultures that are different from my own. Loved this video very much❤️👍❤️
Climbed everest twice but never reach the summit. Porters payment is not enough for the effort
You made my day excellent documentary