After a lie-in and a fantastic breakfast we went to meet the tour guides. We had a briefing which outlined exactly what we were going to do on the Everest Base Camp trek. After this, we went in to Kathmandu to explore and do some last minute essential shopping for the trek.

On the way in, we were constantly harassed by street sellers, mainly selling Nepali instruments. Pardeep and I got sucked in, and without realising how much we were spending, we purchased Nepalese mouth organ type thing that makes a doing sound when you breathe in an out and flick a spring (500 rupees= £4! …scammed!). It sounds very cool when played by the street people, but it’s very difficult to work out how to use it!

It’s made of metal - what exactly, I don’t know but hopefully not lead! It’s strange that I’ve been overly cautious with eating fruit/veg/salad, and the water; drinking either bottled water or boiled and purified water, using it even when brushing my teeth, but now I’ll happily stick a piece of rusty metal in my mouth for ages!

And Lucy bought a very cool “singing bowl”, which makes a therapeutic drone when played.

We went into an area called Thamel, the tourist part of Kathmandu. We went to a trekking shop recommended by the guides. The prices were fantastic!! I bought a black down jacket for the Everest trek which folds down into a tiny draw string bag for 3500 rupees (approx £28)!! I saw them sold in England for nearly £200! We bargained some walking poles down to 1000 rupees (£8). Some of the girls got some gloves costing less than a pound, and fleeces were sold for £2-5! It was amazing, and very good quality!