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All our gear has arrived in base camp (5715) and we have installed ourselves very well! The yak problem is solved, and we have become good friends with the Yak drivers.
We have spent three full days arranging base camp. Pitching tents (8x), getting water, making tables using rocks, etc... The hard work has been rewarded as we are very well installed. This is important, because we will need to rest a lot in base camp from our efforts higher up on the mountain.
We are all feeling better, acclimatisation has done a good job. But we still feel that staying healthy at this altitude is not easy. The body has very little energy to refurbish itself. Stomach problems are frequent, and wounds do not heal for example. Staying healthy will be the key to success, which is why we spend a lot of energy taking care of hygene and other important factors.
Today we have praised the gods high up the Turqoise Goddess (Cho Oyu) for safety and success of our expedition. Such a Boudhist ceremony is called a Puja, and is organized by our sherpa's who take it very seriously. Not only are all the climbers of the expedition blessed, but also the most important equipments like ski's, ice axe, crampons, and high foods. The ceremony was impressing.
We went for our first acclimatisation walk today to explore the mountain and prepare our bodies for higher altitudes. Herman broke his altitude record by 10 m (at 5905 m)!
Tomorrow we will repeat this and try to get a little higher. Sunday will be a rest day and monday we will try to put OC&C Strategy Consultants camp 1 in place at 6400 m. If we feel well, we will sleep there and come back to base camp for rest afterwards.
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