It was a very important day for our expedition today, of a special significance, as well as for those who don't call themselves religious.  It was a much awaited day, especially for the Sherpas, since our arrival to Base Camp.

According to the Nepalese calendar, today was a sacred day, and that is why it was the chosen date for our Puja, a Buddhist ceremony, with the objective of asking the gods for protection during our climb.  A real Lama (a monk in an advanced degree of evolution) came to preside the ceremony, which lasted around two hours.

A chorten (a kind of altar) was made, where food, drinks and incense were offered to the gods.  The Lama directed the ceremony always reciting mantras (prayers).  Sometimes he paused, sometimes he made everybody participate, when we threw handfuls of rice and barley flour.

In our chorten, there were also the tech equipment we are going to use during the climb.  Boots, piolets, chairs and even the crampons were blessed by the Lama.

In the middle of the ceremony, a flagpole was raised in the center of the chorten, from which five Lung-tas (flags with written prayers) ropes dangled.  They are colorful, and the Sherpas say that when blown by the wind, the sacred words are dispersed, protecting everybody and blessing the environment.  The Lung-tas are now covering all our Base Camp.  On the top of the flagpole, we also put the flag of Nepal, followed by the flag of Brazil.

At the end of the ceremony, the food offered to the gods was distributed among everybody.  The Sherpas were the most enthusiastic, while we found peculiar the taste of tsampa (barley flour mixed with yak fat) and chang (a kind of beer made of rice).

Our Lama went to the camps of the other expeditions, repeating the ceremony. 

A strong smell of incense lingered in the air, the flaps of the prayer flags, and the conviction, no matter the belief, that we have the protection of the Himalayan gods, to achieve our climb with success.