Life in the shadow of Everest
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Yandi Sherpa, 46, drinks tea from a thermos flask inside her home in the town Lukla, which is at the start of the route to Everest in Solukhumbu District, Nepal, on Feb 20th 2016.
At 2,860 meters getting warm and staying warm is both a priority and a challenge. Even getting fresh water to drink can mean a long walk in the cold.
Bare fields in the surrounds of Khumjung, Solukhumbu District , Nepal, on February 24, 2016. Villagers grow what little the can but much of what they eat has to be imported, carried on the backs of either people or animals.
Sudip Rai, 11, assessed for jaundice symptoms by Dr Mingma Tshering Sherpa, 29, at the Kunde Hospital, in Kunde, Solukhumbu District, Nepal, on February 25, 2016. One of the few medical facilities in the region, many patients have to walk for days to reach it.
A new home is under construction after the previous one was destroyed by the huge earthquake that shook Nepal in 2015, in Thulo Gumela, Solukhumbu District Nepal, on February 22, 2016.
Every part of this house had to be carried here by porters.
Lights shine from a trekking lodge as night falls on Phakding, Solukhumbu District, Nepal, on February 22, 2016. Tourists on their way to Everest and other Himalayan peaks are the main source of income for this region of Nepal, which in many ways is isolated and abjectly poor.
Mina Baraili, 20, (c) and her family burn Yak dung to cook and get warm on a cold evening inside their home, which was destroyed by the 2015 earthquakes in Thulo Gumela, Solukhumbu District, Nepal.
The family rebuilt and repaired as best they could but it's still essentially a ramshackle hut with little if any insulation.
Bipasa Rai jumps a skipping rope at Khumjung High School, in Khumjung, Solukhumbu District, Nepal on February 24, 2016. Khumjung, which is some 3790 meters above sea level, is two days' hard walk to the nearest airport and about seven to the nearest road.
Students participate in pre-class exercises at Sano Gumela School, Solukhumbu District, Nepal on February 23, 2016. The school was largely destroyed by the two huge earthquakes that hit Nepal in 2015, some buildings slid into the ravine below.
Looking down from a small peak above the village of Tengboche, in Solukhumbu District, Nepal, at almost 4,000 meters above sea level, on February 26, 2016. Some 70 percent of Nepal's Solukhumbu District exists higher than 3,000 meters above sea level. Much of the terrain is barren, remote and hard to access, yet by the last census in 2011, some 105,886 people forged a living in its harsh climes.
A porter carries construction materials up a steep climb toward the village of Tengboche, Nepal, on February 26, 2016. Such porters are a common sight along the trail that ascends into the Himalayas from the town of Lukla. Apart from infrequent deliveries by cargo helicopters to major towns, everything that reaches villages along the way is carried, either by people or animals, often for many days.