Nepal, Feb. 21 -- In the lap of Langtang lie misty meadows that are carpeted with alpine flowers during the monsoon. It was here that Gyalbu Tamang (pictured, right) spent his childhood accompanying his father Pasang Norbu to high pastures, to milk nak and make cheese.

Norbu himself was taught to produce Emmentaler cheese by two Swiss experts in the 1950s. Switzerland and Nepal are marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year, and the cheese plant in Kyangjin was one of the first the Swiss were involved in.

Langtang had surplus milk, and the idea was to turn it into cheese to raise nutrition levels.

"The Swiss were very hard-working, and were not used to the laid back attitude of Nepalis," remembers Gyalbu Tamang, now 50....