Gorakhpur is currently deserted. The owners of the houses have reached Kathmandu to escape the winter. Workers have been given the responsibility of looking after the hotel and the house. Currently, there are 1 to 5 workers in a hotel.

Garekshep is located in the lap of Kalapatthar near the base camp of the highest peak, Everest. It is 5,164 meters above sea level. The temperature here is currently below minus 12 degrees. There are 9 houses in Gorekshep, including a hotel and a bakery. It falls within the Everest National Park.

It has been a tradition for years that hotel owners go to Kathmandu after the cold stops tourists from coming. Pasang Sherpa, the owner of the hotel Himalaya Lawn here, has handed over the hotel keys to the workers and reached Kathmandu. He now returns to Khumbu only in Falgun-Chait. Pasang says that it is difficult to stay for 12 months as the village does not even have basic infrastructure for development.

‘Let alone other things, there is no regular water supply system.’ We have to carry water in drums from the glacier, and the glacier also freezes after Mangsir, and we have to melt the snow and drink water,' he says.

There is no electricity in Gorakhpur. Solar and battery power is used for lighting. But in winter, when the sun does not shine, the solar panels do not charge. 'In winter, it is very difficult for us to turn on the lights and charge the phone, the solar panels and batteries also break,' said Pasang.

The nearest school from Gorakhpur is Khumjung School, which is very far away. That is why the residents here usually send their children to Kathmandu. Almost everyone has a home in Kathmandu. Because of the high altitude, there is no animal husbandry or farming in Gorakhpur. That is why it is easy for the locals to leave the village. When the tourist season begins, they return to the village. Their economic status has improved due to the tourist boom.

Lobuche is a village slightly lower than Gorkha. It is 4,940 meters above sea level. There are 9 hotels and 3 furnaces. They are also currently staffed by workers. During the season, the hotels and lodges here are full of tourists.

National Park Hotel operator Barunima Sherpa has left Jetha Rai and Abin Rai of Mahakulung to look after them and has reached Kathmandu with his family. According to him, there is no electricity in the village. They use solar and battery lights. ‘We don’t even have a telephone tower in our village,’ said Barunima. ‘The municipality, Nukandj and others collect crores of rupees in revenue but do not invest in tourism infrastructure.’

There is no farming or animal husbandry in Lobuche either. In winter, food and vegetables are brought and stored from lower areas including Namche. The main profession and business of the residents here is tourism. The Sherpas here are also involved in trekking-related businesses. The village only starts to get busy after Falgun.

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Dingboche is a mountainous village where it is believed that the village is empty due to the cold in winter and that people are not allowed to live in it during the monsoon due to tradition. The 120 houses in Dingboche village, located at an altitude of 4,410 meters above sea level, are mostly closed. Some houses have workers. Most of the houses are locked. Most of the house owners have reached Kathmandu.

There are 32 hotels and lodges in Dingboche. There are more than 30 small bakeries. Gelu Sherpa, the owner of Imja Valley Hotel in Dingbocho, has now reached Namche and will be leaving for Kathmandu in a few days. ‘We cannot afford to stay there as there is not much business and many diseases are spread due to the cold,’ Gelu Sherpa said. ‘It has become our tradition to leave the village in winter.’

Dingboche is located on the Everest trekking route in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality-4. It takes 2 days to reach here from Namche. There is no school here. The locals are arranging pipes themselves and supplying water to their homes. ‘Our village does not even have electricity and communication facilities,’ said local Pemba Sherpa.

There is farming here, but only potatoes and vegetables are grown. There is no farming in winter. There is also a tradition of raising goats and yaks. ‘The local herdsmen look after the yaks and the yaks,’ said a local Pasang Sherpa.

Dingboche has a custom of not staying in their homes for about a month during the monsoon. During that time, local residents stay in nearby barns and with relatives in other villages. Ward member Pasangnuru Sherpa said that the lamas have been enforcing the custom for 1 month and 10 days according to the local calendar. ‘A few years ago, after locals protested, it was agreed to reduce the period by 10 days,’ he said.

After the D was implemented, it is not possible to stay in one’s own home. Fires are not allowed in the house. Cattle must be taken to the forest and left. Locals say that the D custom existed in many villages in the Khumbu region in ancient times, but it has disappeared in many places. The Sagarmatha Intermediate Zone Consumer Group has also appointed a nawa (monitor) to monitor whether people in Dingboche village have left their homes or not. If you do not follow the D, you will be fined.

Some residents of Dingboche are demanding that the D custom be removed and they should be allowed to live in their homes. There was even a clash between the two groups last year over the dispute over whether the rule should be removed or maintained. After a 3-hour trek near Dingboche (towards Namche), you will come to Pangboche village. The residents of Pangboche, which has about 200 houses, have been insisting that the D custom should be maintained in Dingboche. There is no D custom in Pangboche.