New Moon

0908 13h30 phone call clear
After 3 to 4 days of ‘Hell’ and ‘Hell’s Neighbour’, arrived in Base Camp yesterday at lunch time. Pleased to see clear views of mountains. Although we are still some 20 km away, Mt. Shisha seemed to tower very high in the sky - seems higher than it was last year!
Acclimatisation is going well – although had a bit of a tummy disorder yesterday. Will now spend 3 to 4 days at Base Camp before advancing to ABC (Advanced Base Camp). Am considering possible animal transport for this next stage (pony or yak) and on to Depot Camp as this isn’t part of the actual mountain ascent.
The three members of Jamie’s team are great guys and we get on very well. Jamie should arrive from Lhasa tomorrow. In the meantime we have lovely large tents to sleep in.
Still undecided as to whether to plan for a rapid Alpine Ascent push but will check feasibility of putting everything into a single pack over the next few days. I understand there are already people at Camp 1 (British Army) and more climbers at Camp 3. So, I will certainly not be alone. These camps are more or less in the same locality as last year but this year I want to aim for 6500 m instead of 6400 m for my Camp 1. The weather is still very good. There were some flashes of lightning on the horizon last night. Also saw the new moon (Which, strictly speaking, should only be visible on the 11th of September.)Still getting SMS on SatPhone from Jenny (Please send her a thank you email) but not many from us. Cannot offer any explanation. In reply to Mumsie’s question regarding a ‘nice bath’, Hoseman said this was low on his priority list – keeping warm was much higher. He has a long bamboo pole with prayer flags outside his tent. If Jamie’s expedition does his official Puje in time he will attend but if its going to be too late in the day, he will go off on his own having already done the ceremony at Thame earlier.