Part of the cultural immersion experience in rooming with Pema was enjoying his cooking, albeit with only three recipes for the whole month. Well, not that I’m complaining, Pema is a fine cook, but as a typical American I find that my diet and cravings shift dramatically from day to day. Having been to a place like South Korea where EVERY meal seems to be fundamentally the same, I’m familiar with the idea of sticking with a short list of items that are proven “winners.” I don’t know if it’s the case living in the Sherpa villages, but our menu consistently followed the pattern of spicy ramen noodles for breakfast, potato pancakes with spicy sauce for lunch, and spicy chicken curry and rice for dinner, and all with Sriracha chili sauce and some Indian garlic pickle they were wildly flavorful.

First of all let me update you on my overnight stay at 10,000 feet this weekend. Yes, I did get a headache during the day and I took some Advil. I spent a few hours down low (at 6,000 feet) then drove back up. Yes, that goes contrary to the principle of hiking high and sleeping low. At night I was having trouble with breathing and I couldn’t sleep. I guess I’ll have to re-evaluate my advice on front-loading your acclimatization, but then it could be that I had watched a Harry Potter video.