Dispatch One

Namche Bazaar is an outpost Nepalese village: gateway to the Everest Trail - the 10 day or so trek to Base Camp. Bizarrely, I'm sitting in an internet cafe here, where communications are via satellite, filing this first dispatch. Namche Bazaar nestles in a horseshoe shape, clinging to the steep hillside - a collection of hotels, guest houses and hostels, together with the odd internet cafe - hence this pre Base Camp email.

The buildings here are beautifully crafted from granite blocks and there is much use of timber inside. All of the roofs are all brightly coloured in reds, greens and blues. Looking down on them from above is a bit like looking down on a child's toy village.

At the moment the place is rapidly filling up with Base Camp trekkers, serious climbers, porters and sherpas. April and May are the dry, pre-monsoon climbing months. Daytime temperatures here can reach 20 degrees but as soon as the sun dips below the high surrounding peaks, it's like someone's switched off the heater, and temperatures plummet to freezing.

One of the nicest things about Namche is the lack of any internal combustion engine (the terrain is too steep and difficult for roads). Hence the only sounds are the gentle tinkling of bells from yaks taking loads to Base Camp, the friendly greeting "Namaste!" (literally"I salute the god in you") from the local Nepalese and (at night) the incessant barking of dogs (otherwise completely silent during the day!). For western visitors, the name of the game here is to acclimatise, Namche being almost one vertical mile higher than Kathmandu at 3340 metres with the air only 60% of that at sea level.

It's at Namche that you get your first glimpse of Mt Everest, 28 miles distant. It's a small, almost demure triangle of rock and snow which - unless you knew it - would not strike you as being the highest mountain in the world (the distinctive column of Ama Dablam seems more impressive from here). Yet at 8850 metres, it's several thousand metres higher than Namche.

Glimpsing its distant tantalising summit sends a thrill of excitement. I want to be there soon but know that its of the utmost importance to travel slowly and acclimatise.

Since this is likely to be the last email facility before Everest Base Camp there may be a wait of several days before the next formal dispatch. However the cybercast at Alpine Ascents should give updates on the team's progress in the meantime.

Dispatch two – Saturday 14 April Everest Base Camp

Now that communications have been set up here at Everest Base Camp (EBC) I can at last send out dispatch number two. The first dispatch – from Namche Bazaar - was from an internet café. Since then there have been no opportunities to send out a personal update until now. That’s because the last several days have been spent away from civilization, trekking and acclimatizing – a vital precursor to a successful climb. As the days go by you notice that the once luxuriant vegetation starts to become sparser. Pine and fir forests gradually give way to Juniper bushes until arctic zone lichens surrender to barren rock, snow and ice – our world for the next several weeks.

Another key ingredient to a successful climb (and there are many!) is ‘auspicious khama’. The Nepalese people are mainly Buddhist or Hindu, but either way they are firm believers in the sacredness of mountains in general and Mt Everest (Chomolungma; Sagarmatha) in particular. Not to make obeisance to the gods A sign of luck is when a chough and spirits of the mountain is therefore to court disaster. With this in mind we received four blessings in as many days from different Lamas (two of whom are believed to be re-incarnates). The blessing ceremony involves much chanting, presenting a Thanka (or silk scarf) and neck string to the traveller, drinking tea or sometimes something stronger and occasionally a mutual forehead rub! Part of generating good khama is an essential ceremony by the whole team at Base Camp to request a propitious climb.

This ceremony is called a Puja and can only be performed on dates auspicious to the Nepalese. Luckily(?!) For us the date chosen was Friday 13th April! Pujas involve much chanting, eating, drinking, rice-throwing and dancing by the sherpas. Choughs (a bird like a jackdaw with a yellow beak) are commonplace around Base Camp. Choughs are supposed to represent the spirits of dead climbers and if one lands on the Puja stone altar it’s supposed to be a sign of good luck. Although this happened many times, I’m of the view that the choughs were more interested in the yak butter sculptures decorating the altar than anything else.

Scenically, Base Camp is an astonishing amphitheatre surrounded by 7000 metre plus mountains. Iconic peaks like Pumo Ri and Nuptse dwarf the many tents of the international expeditions. Unexpectedly it’s not possible to see the summit of Everest from here because it’s hidden by the icefall – the next obstacle on the way to the summit. This is where the Western Cwm glacier comes spilling out, disgorging a jumble of ice blocks – some immense - perched at crazy angles which can fall without warning. More later in my next dispatch…

Meanwhile the name of the game here is to continue to acclimatize, eat, drink water and sleep. Yes, climbing can be a tough life at times!