Sunrooms

The ambient temperature is quite low in Pheriche even during the "heat" of the day (max of ~5 degrees C, or about 40 degrees F) and the winds that pick up around lunch add a chill that is hard to shake. Since the sun is so strong, however, the locals have devised incredibly simple and efficient means of staying warm: sunrooms. These are usually detached buildings (although occasionally part of a larger structure) that are roofed with panels of corrugated, translucent fiberglass and the walls are made of glass and more translucent fiberglass. They allow in lots of light and shield the occupants from the strong winds. The Pheriche aid-post has a sunroom that we hang out in nearly continuously from ~ 9am to ~ 5pm. We also hold the daily 3pm altitude lecture in the sunroom. By about 9:30 or 10 the temperature inside the sunroom is a good 10-15C warmer than in the aid post which barely gets above the ambient. It's great relief and a pleasant place to work or nap. Of course when the clouds and/or fog roll in the sunroom cools down rapidly and we seek other places of warmth...the Himalayan Hotel next door or our own yak dung stove in the aid-post living quarters.

HRA sunroom: