So much for Pema’s clean explanation of how Lukla’s flight schedule works. He said we’d be on the second flight out and that we should be ready early, but about 8:30 in the morning. Actually that hour was not at all a strain for us since we had a very light and guarded sleep in our “hotel”. After the porters left and the cooks absconded with the pot of steaming chang to their own private festivities we were left feeling dressed up with no place to go. We had been looking forward to some Sherpa hoopla and dancing, but regardless we were content to curl up in our cozy, wooden rooms with a porcelain toilet nearby and flat, carpeted flooring. All was quiet for the moment as we cut the lights and zipped up our sleeping bags. However, soon and throught the whole night we lay sleepless, feeling on edge with thoughts of Maoists infiltrating our stronghold. We heard rattling noises and soldier noises outside our windows. As if that wasn’t bad enough, half-way between our dreams we became aware of the community of mice or rats scurrying around in the hollow framing of the woodwork. We slept lightly and were very anxious for sunlight to hit our windows. After all we’ve been through and all the anticipation we were completely finished with the Khumbu for the time being and were intent and catching our flight out.