Porter for Hire

In the mountains there are no roads and everything must be carried up from the valley. Here is a photo of a man carrying iron supports that will be used to build a new guesthouse. I can not imagine how heavy this load is. I would guess it is probably around 150lbs. The man will be paid a flat rate for each piece of iron that he carries so the more he can carry, the more he can own. He will also try to go as fast as he can up the mountain so he can come back down and grab another load.

As we trekked to Annapurna Base Camp we saw many of these men carrying iron supports. It was almost heartbreaking to watch them struggle with these massive loads. They when up the stairs and weaved their way past hordes of trekkers like myself.