The Puja Ceremony

Woke feeling better, but 2 or 3 teammates have come down with head colds, again it’s not if, but when on these large expeditions.

Before our Sherpa team will head up the mountain they need to be blessed by the high lama in a cultural ceremony called a Puja. They also want us blessed as well, so the whole team joined in. The lama reads from their prayer book asking the mountain god to grant us all safe passage. He then blesses many items such as our food, gear, and each climber. The people of Nepal are rich in culture and beliefs, it has been an honor to be included in their ceremonies. During the ceremony the sun popped out of the clouds and it had a halo around it. We all took this as a great omen.

After the ceremony we had lunch and then gathered in our Zen Tent to do a technical gear check ( harnesses, ascender system, and crampons). It’s been bitter cold and snowed most of the day. Unfortunately Lukla airport has lived up to its reputation as the most dangerous airport. One of the planes we flew in on, crashed into a helicopter. Three passengers died and three are injured. Our thoughts are with the survivors.