November 6 | Nepal: Mount Everest
Tonight I had dinner with Santosh at his parents’ house. Santosh lives and attends school in Kathmandu, but he grew up on a farm several miles away. Many of the people in Nepal live and work on farms. His parents continue to grow crops to take to the market. They raise rice, corn, potatoes, and wheat. Santosh’s mom prepared a Nepalian dish for me to enjoy. We ate masu, which is curried buffalo meat with gravy and rice. The meal was spicy, but very tasty!

In the warmer months, Santosh’s dad works as a sherpa and takes mountain climbers to hike Mount Everest. Adventure seekers come from all over the world to visit Nepal and to climb Mount Everest. The name for this mountain in Nepal is Sagarmatha, which means “head of the sky.” At 29,070 feet, it is the world’s highest peak. Nepal has eight of the world’s ten highest peaks in the Himalayan Mountains. Even though Santosh’s dad is an experienced mountain climber, it is still very dangerous. The sherpas will only take people up Mount Everest who are well prepared and have had many years of experience. He shared some fascinating stories about the people he has met on his trecks up Mount Everest. To learn more about sherpas and Mount Everest, you might want to visit this website.