After a long day of trekking to the top of the world, everything tastes better.
I’ve been on week-long hikes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where ramen noodles taste as delectable as Girl Scout Thin Mints. I’m not sure why, but it must have something to do with dehydration, altitude and the desperation for calories.
Anyhow, after a long hike, rarely is fresh cheese on the menu. Yak cheese at that. Sounds kinda gross but actually it’s delicious. It’s tastes mild, with undertones of Swiss and cheddar and packed with protein. Even better, the milk is probably hormone free and organic and free range considering the yaks are living at around 9,000 feet in the Himalayan Mountains.
In the Nepali mountain town of Shin Gumba, our first night stop on our 7 day trek, the 3rrd building in town is a cheese maker. Most Asian countries shy away from cheese, but not in Nepal.
The cheese maker’s shop was simple – a dark room with wood fires for boiling the milk and other contraptions to make it and a small shop to sell it.
It’s a pretty strong statement to say it was worth 7 hours of hiking for a wedge of yak cheese, but damn did it hit the spot.
And as always click on the below image to see full size.
