[Kate] Between Trekking: Part II

When we aren't hiking, life is still very different in the Everest trekking region of Nepal!  Here are our activities when we aren't trekking in the afternoon (see part one for the morning).

We normally finish trekking in early afternoon, from around two to three.  For the first while we just sit in the common room, recuperating.  During that time we relax, read, or play with cards.  We play with cards a lot, playing games such as Go Fish, Gin Rummy, Hearts, War, and lots of others.  In addition, we brought some mini card games that all three kids received for Christmas, but all three games remain unopened, so we almost exclusively use the standard deck of cards.  Yet we have also played with Uno cards, and even played  with a mini Settlers of Catan set.  We then go to our rooms to check them out, or change into less sweat-covered clothes.  At some point one of our guides will come and get our orders for dinner.  We play around for the rest of the night, unless we have a short outing planed.

We relax in tons of different ways, mostly reading, but we play cards a lot too.  Most of our time in spent in the common room of the tea houses, where it is warmer and generally more comfortable.  We also unpack a little, but normally not very much, as in most cases we stay in one place for only one night.  

After our afternoon, we have to deal with dinner.  When we placed our orders earlier in the afternoon, we also had to choose what time to get our meal.  This is a common source of debate in our family.  Since we have lunch so early, Cannon and I are distinct in favor of an earlier dinner, at six.  Dad, however, is insistent on having dinner late as possible, because then he's better at staying up later.  Grace and Mom aren't siding with Dad, not not with us either.

We all get a variety of things at dinner.  Cannon often gets French fires, but he also branches out into traditional Nepalese bread, pizza, and other forms of potatoes.  Dad, Mom, Grace and I try a lot of different things, with varying amounts of success.  Hash browns and cheese were a win for me!  But the next night, runny and lukewarm mashed potatoes...not so much.  I guess it's all part of the adventure!

After dinner we normally talk a little, about our trek, or books, or whatever I on our minds.  But then we head to bed.  When It's not very cold, I put on the clothes that I'll wear tomorrow and sleep in them.  But when it's too cold, I have to wear my long underwear, and potentially even more layers.  When I'm dressed, I normally read some more, go to the bathroom (I need to be very careful that I use the bathroom before sleep!), and pack a little.  I wear my footsie socks (nice and warm!) to bed, but am careful to keep my flip-flops by my bed, just in case I need to use the bathroom again in the night.  

When I'm ready for bed, I crawl into the sleeping bag that's set up on my bed.  I wear varying layers of jackets depending on the coldness of the night.  In the higher tea houses, there are also blankets I put over my sleeping bag, which is great because it can get really cold!  Cannon (my roommate) and I have. Habit of listening to a Harry Potter audiobook when we are going to sleep, but that habit is harder because we are trying to reserve phone battery.  Nevertheless, on most nights, Cannon puts on his Harry Potter and sometimes I listen.  Other times I just relish the relative calm of the night, brainstorm story ideas, and think about our trek.  Normally I'm asleep by nine (Maybe?  I never have a clock...), but the altitude can mess with my sleeping in a particularity irksome way.  I don't normally wake up in the middle of the night, but getting asleep in the first place can be a trial in its own way.

And then the next day starts!  It's really not a normal schedule, but it's definitely an adventure!