The team awoke to the banging of a drum and the religious chanting of a Buddist Llama, the Puja had begun. A Puja is basically a religious blessing conducted by a local Llama of the people and some of the equipment which will go on the mountain. It probably has the most significance to the Sherpa’s who will spend more time going up and down the mountain than we will. The ceremony lasted around 3 hours and evolved the blessing of food and beer with lots of throwing of rich and flour whilst the burning of Juniper and the banging of drums set the scene. At the end of the ceremony as rather suspicious ‘oil container’ was passed around. This turned out the be the local rice beer called Raishe (excuse spelling) this went down a hit with the Sherpa’s but was approached with caution by the team. It’s not everyday you drink beer out of an oil container. After the Puja the team sat down for an early lunch with the Sherpa’s opting for a liquid lunch from the oil container. Luckily for them they had a day off while the team made their first ascent to Camp 1 at 5700.
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