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I'd trekked for a good few hours along a narrow dirt path with jagged rock towering above me when Rumbak village eventually came into view.

The small community, located 3,960m (12,992ft) above sea level in the Ladakh region of northwest India, has no road access and donkeys are used to transport goods when needed.

Nawang, a translator I was travelling with, explained that around 200 people live in Rumbak, with farming being the primary occupation. The residents only get electricity for three hours a day, from 8pm to 11pm, and there is just one telephone in the village in case of emergency.

Rumbak village is located 3,960m (12,992ft) above sea level in the Ladakh region of northwest India

Around 200 people live in the small community and it takes more than two hours to get there on foot. There is no road access

Walking up to the tucked-away village where there is no mobile phone reception, I navigated a hotchpotch of dusty alleyways. 

There was building work going on, with workers busily fashioning structures out of an array of natural materials including rock and poplar wood.

The houses in Rumbak follow the Tibetan style, with flat roofs, white washed walls and intricate woodwork around the window and door frames. I was invited into one of the homes for tea. At the door, I followed custom and removed my shoes before stepping inside.

The cosy abode - belonging to Lobzang Tsering and her husband Eshey - featured a large main room with dozens of copper kettles on display. 

Apparently in the summer, this room would be used for entertaining, while in the winter everyone would sleep huddled together in a bid to keep warm. Temperatures can drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius in the area and there can be heavy snowfalls. 

I was shown to a small room where Lobzang rustled me up some local treats, one being yak butter tea. 

A woman from Rumbak village returns home after a day working the fields. Farming is the primary occupation

MailOnline Travel's Sadie Whitelocks visited the village and was welcomed into a local's home for butter tea. Copper kettles were on display in one of the main rooms

Sadie said butter tea is an acquired taste but it is extremely popular in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet. The hot drink has a high calorie content and is said to be beneficial at altitude

The smiley mother-of-four lit the stove to warm some water and brought out a wooden butter churn. 

She then started to churn some yak butter, which I was told would have a slightly funky taste as it was rancid and past its best. 

I clasped the china tea cup with mild trepidation and took a slurp. The greyish coloured tea had a vague taste of blue cheese and there was a film of grease spinning around. 

Butter tea is certainly an acquired taste, but it is extremely popular in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, India and Tibet. The hot drink has a high calorie content and is said to be beneficial at altitude.

After attempting to polish off the buttery liquid, Lobzang introduced me to another beverage - chang.

The cold drink is made from fermented barley water. 

'If you drink half a dozen cups of this it might cause you to feel drunk,' my guide Nawang told me. 

Lobzang Tsering puts rancid butter into a churn to make the traditional tea (left). The mother-of-four was born in Rumbak and met her husband in the village

Lobzang introduced Sadie to another beverage - chang. The cold drink is made from fermented barley water

I think I would need to be drunk to drink half a dozen cups of chang, as I found the milky liquid a bit hard to stomach with a flavour akin to beer crossed with vinegar. 

To finish off my culinary exploration, Lobzang rustled me up a bowl of tsampa. 

The porridge-like concoction consists of barley flour mixed with butter and tea to form a thick paste. This was a little more to my liking, and reminded me vaguely of cake mixture or pastry dough. 

I was informed that tsampa is a popular breakfast dish in the area and the heavy consistency keeps you full up for the day so you don't need to stop for lunch. Even the Dalai Lama is said to be a fan.

Feeling pretty stuffed and a little queasy from the rancid butter, I bid Lobzang farewell.

Rumbak is said to date back around 400 years. It was used as a stopover point for people trekking through the mountains. 

With fertile land in the valley basin, settlers soon took to growing barley. 

Rumbak is said to date back around 400 years. It was used as a stopover point for people trekking through the mountains

A local woman walks along with her farming tools to hand. Many people from the Rumbak village typically start work at 5am

With fertile land in the valley basin, settlers in Rumbak soon took to growing barley

Over recent years the area has become increasingly popular and there is now homestay accommodation in the village for trekkers.

On my visit to Rumbak - which is also home to a small Buddhist monastery and school - I saw slight signs of modernisation, with solar panels on some buildings and electricity pylons in the vicinity, yet to be wired up though.

Nawang - who was from the Ladakh region - told me that while many villagers are content with the remote way of life, some of the younger generations are tending to flee to cities for better employment opportunities and to find a more varied spread of suitors.

He mused: 'Nowadays families are smaller with just six to eight people.  When I was younger there would be up to 14 family members and people would get married as young teenagers. 

'Either they would know each other from the village or it would be an arranged marriage. My grandmother married when she was 12!'

As the sun started to set I saw men and women emerging from the fields and returning to Rumbak. Most villagers wake up around 5am to start farming and they return for dinner post-8pm.

Looking back fondly towards the settlement, Nawang concluded: 'It's a nice pace of life. In their spare time the women sew or make wool thread out of animal hair while the men will make shoes or carry out maintenance work. Everyone keeps themselves busy.'