In October, Zulfi and five others trekked to Everest Base Camp raising a mammoth total – so far – of £100,000 for Help for Heroes, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the National Autistic Society.

At the charity fundraiser, Zulfi will be sharing tall tales from the trek – including details of his 50th birthday party at Base Camp, where a bit of bhangra dancing went down a storm!

Tickets priced £15 including food and entertainment are available from Deeva Restaurant Tel: 0113 236 0947 www.deeva.biz.

Just done Kala Pather. We are 1 day ahead of schedule. Half team down with altitude sickness – but ok.

Starting to head down now.

Another dream fulfilled! Having my birthday party…

From the original schedule:

Gorak Shep Altitude 5164m

This is the final acclimatization stop on most common treks to Everest Base Camp from Lukla, following what the Dalai Lama dubbed “the steps to heaven.” Climbing time from here (the original Everest base camp) to the current base camp ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on weather conditions, acclimatization and the physical condition of the team. Fingers crossed! Strange to learn that Gorak Shep means “Dead Ravens”. What’s that all about?

Looking forward to seeing the summit – which can’t be seen from base camp – and some spectacular views from Kala Pather. It’s all downhill from here…

A few team members with altitude sickness but ok to continue so far!

Symptoms of altitude sickness:

• Periods of sleeplessness or needing more sleep than usual
• Loss of appetite
• Vivid, wild dreams (apparently especially at around 2500-3800m)! Hmmm, not sure about that one!
• Periodic breathing. (Surely we should be breathing all the time???)
• The need to rest/catch your breath frequently. (Well, I get that now if I have to run up the stairs so not sure how I will monitor that one).
• Runny nose.
• Increased urination (apparently a good sign) J
• Dizziness.

An inhabitant from Tengboche, Tenzing Norgay, and Sir Edmund Hillary were the first to reach the summit of Everest on the British 1953 expedition. The leader of that expedition, John Hunt, described Tengboche as “one of the most beautiful places in the world.”

Surrounded by satellite dwellings, all quaintly constructed and oddly mediaeval in appearance, it provides a grandstand beyond comparison for the finest mountain scenery that I have ever seen, whether in the Himalaya or elsewhere.

It is reported that only 50 monks and five families permanently live in the Tengboche village. However, in the short span of 5 tourist months, thousands of tourists and trekkers visit (25,000 tourists were reported during 1999). Consequently this puts a heavy burden on the village community and on the Tengboche Monastery – considered the oldest celibate sherpa monastery – particularly on the meagre available facilities of water, electricity, food and sanitation. To sustain the economic conditions in the village, tourists and trekkers have been urged to offer donations to the Tengboche Development Project. Funds made available would enable employing the local people in various development activities.

Steve did some Tai Chi and I did some Bangra dancing at this point! This certainly entertained the locals and foreigners alike. They must have thought the thin air had got the better of us

All went well except I slipped and fell on the way down. Luckily I landed well and escaped any injury – phew that was a close shave!

Team still in high spirits although 1st signs of illness have started with one team member unable to join us for the trek this morning.

Described as the “wealthy area” of Nepal, I’m looking forward to visiting Khumjung which is also considered the sherpa capital. I’m intrigued by reports that the Khumjung Monastery has a yeti scalp on public display, but perhaps a little more interested (given my impending birthday celebration) by the Mt Everest Bakery – purportedly the highest bakery in the world. Perhaps they can provide a cake for my party?

Namche Bazaar is the gateway to the high Himalaya and a popular acclimatization stop for trekkers. It’s also one of the few places where trekkers can access the internet.

From Zulfi on Thursday 6 October:

Yesterday, flew from Kathmandu to Lukla – one of the most dangerous airports in the world. Flight was reasonably smooth and landed safely to our surprise and relief.

We then trekked for about 3 hours to our lodge in Phakding. This was alleged to be easy trek but was certainly very testing in places, especially as land slides had made the route pretty slippery and dangerous.

Today we left Phakding for Namche at 7.30am. Boy was this a hard 7 hour trek. We were told it would be hard but could not have imagined how hard. The views were stunning so made up for all the suffering. We are all totally knackered!!!

The thought that kept me going was ‘Harder the climb – better the view!”

We are already at around 3500 meters. It only gets much tougher from here on and will test us mentally and physically.

The team has bonded well together and spirits are still very high!

We are staying at Moonlight lodge and it’s freezing. We are all in fleeces etc and will be in thermals and woolley hats soon!

I am enjoying Dal Bhat with veg (local staple diet) every day, twice a day. This is equivalent to our Veg Thali in England. I’m going to be sick of it soon. LOL :)

Today we start the trek for real with a gentle hike from Lukla – which means place with many goats and sheep – to Phakding. Apparently the airport has been described as “the most dangerous in the world” on account of its steep runway and hazardous weather! So definitely looking forward to a safe landing there! And hopefully a good night’s sleep in a trekking lodge.

Wow! What a Great Morning – 45min canoe ride, 5K jungle trek, narrowly escaping a snake, and then being totally soaked by an elephant at the waterhole!