I got up at 6:30am and checked out the weather conditions outside. It was still dark grey and misty full of precipitation. The trails were very wet from all the rain. So I decided that I would stay for another day.
People who hiked up yesterday all looked like wet dogs and cats who have been in the cold rain for hours lost. Lots of people got ill. Today is not too bad of a day to head down compared to yesterday. It may snow, but the temperature has to drop to cold snow temperature then the sun will come out. I think will wait and see what will come. I have my EarthWare shoes on because all the national parks in China have stone steps everywhere. There is no dirt trails so I left my hiking shoes with the rest of my stuff.
I used to the hot water heater to steam up some warmth in the room. It is my only method of heating up the room without a real heater. I spent the rest of the day meditating. It was my own little seclusion space. The cold really makes it quite ideal for meditation.
In the evening I went back to the hotel restaurant and by then the staff knew about my order. I made it very simple for them by getting the same dish every meal so they wouldn’t be confused and will be able to learn to make my order catered to my exact instructions. It is eggplant and bell pepper with bok choy. Simple huh! You’d be surprised on how people can get it wrong by adding lard, msg, pieces of meat, onion, garlic, chives, leeks, shallots, or wine to it.
Tonight two Shandong ladies were my new bunk mates. They were very nice ladies who work at a factory. One of them insisted on having the TV on all night to dry her socks. I really didn’t like that or wanted to agree to it. But who wants to hike in wet socks?
