What I didn't know before Nepal

I traveled to Nepal with my father and sister, hiked through the Himalayas, and stood at Everest Base Camp. It was an opportunity few people get, and (at the risk of sounding cliché) self-affirming and life-changing.

Myself, my father, and my sister at the edge of Base Camp

With some previous experience, and thorough planning, I was fairly prepared for the trip. However, there were a few things I learned on the way that I wish someone had told me beforehand. Some things were good, some were bad. Here they are:

1. Walk to the left of prayer flags, prayer stones, and prayer wheels. You don't have to be a practicing Buddhist, just respect the people who have welcomed you to walk through their country.
2. You WILL get diarrhea. As careful as you are, it'll happen. It might be from the yak dung fires, or water that wasn't boiled properly, or getting yak dung on your hands, or eating meat that wasn't too fresh, or breathing in the dusty air that's laced with dried yak dung... there's a lot of yak dung. Take Imodium and carry toilet paper.
3. On the subject of yaks: If a yak has red on his collar, he is aggressive. Don't ask how I know this, just accept it and move on.
4. On the subject of naks: A nak is a female yak. If you ask for "yak milk" the locals will laugh at you. Some will even make a jerk-off motion with their hand.
5. Get a Buff.
6. When traveling through Pheriche, stay at the Himalayan Hotel*. In retrospect, it had all the class of a cheap Chinese restaurant but, after ten hours of hiking through the windiest wind that ever winded, it was heaven. The host looked like a young Nepalese Colin Farrell, the dal bhat was delicious, but the music won me over; Pink Floyd, Metallica, Alice in Chains, The Doors, CCR, and Black Sabbath on a playlist that even my father liked. Well done Nepalese Colin Farrell. Well done!
7. Merino wool is the greatest fabric to ever come out of a partnership between humans and merino sheep.
8. "Never trust a fart." See #2.
9. Don't bring a book. By coincidence, all three of us decided to leave our books/Kobos behind. That meant we had 5-3 hours every day where there was little to do but sit around and talk. Have you ever spent three weeks talking with your father and sister all evening, every evening? Try it. If you don't kill each other, you'll be that much closer by the end.

There's my advice, for all the yak dung it's worth.

*The owner of the Himalayan Hotel is Ang Nuru Sherpa. He can be reached at sherpanuru@hotmail.com