I have a small teashop. More teashops have opened along the trekking routes since I started, but they're mostly used by porters and other low-income travellers. A few tourists stop by to try the food, but most head to the lodges for meals and drinks.
I've seen a lot of change in how Sherpa people live and what we consume over the last few decades. Sanitation and hospitality have both improved a great deal. Almost everyone around here makes their living from tourism these days — the number of lodges has grown at an astonishing rate.
We used to drink chang, our local beer — now we sell imported beer. There's raksi, our local wine, but also bottled wine from other countries. And Coca-Cola, clothing, equipment — whatever tourists might want or need, we try to offer it.
Life has gotten more expensive; prices are high, because people only have six months a year to earn what has to last them twelve. But prices don't differ between locals and tourists — everyone pays the same. On the other hand, people are earning a lot more too. I think for most of us, incomes and costs have found a fairly reasonable balance.
What changed wasn't just what's for sale — it was what a year's income has to cover.