Wake up to the sound of evil Chairman Al banging on the door. Today we have to buy twenty days’ worth of food for the expedition, and various other items of inevitably heavy and bulky equipment.

We meet up with the sherpas again, who are still highly stressed and unable to communicate. Fortunately, the agency provides us with a list of recommended purchases, which includes such items as "meat - 40kg, eggs - 250, kerosene - 140 litres". This is somewhat higher than my estimate of 70kg all-in.

Buying food for the trek in Asan Tole Photo © Jeremy Thomson1998

We walk back to Asan Tole to the small but densely packed ‘Trekkers Cold Store’. These shops have a sensible system whereby you tell the shopkeeper what you want, he writes it on the invoice and one of the shop boys gets it for you. Great in theory, but the store keeper doesn’t speak anymore English than Pasang, who can’t read the agency food list. Using our feeble grasp of the Nepali language, we gradually fill up three of four invoices while the shop boys run around the shelves maniacally. A vast pile of sacks builds up at our feet. It doesn’t seem to resemble the food we’ve ordered, but it certainly seems plentiful.

We pay, chuck it onto a passing rickshaw and return to the hotel where Alan and Julian appear with an irate rickshaw driver. They are bringing back the Jerry cans full of kerosene, but one has split and leaked all over the rickshaw. I hope none of his passengers today try to smoke.

Antoine, the Finance Officer, decides it is time to change $4000 into rupees. Wanting to find a good exchange rate, he takes a wander around some side streets until he meets a Jeweller called Ali who can make a good deal. Ali sends an errand boy to find out what the rate is that day (the banks were shut for Dasain), but after half an hour, in which time Ali has managed to sell Antoine some jewellery, the boy has not returned. They go out to find him, and Ali manages to lock his keys into his shop. Never mind, he says, he has friend who can give him a good rate. He hails a taxi, and Antoine is taken miles across town to an anonymous suburb. This is clearly not a good idea. You don’t take taxis with strangers, kids, especially when you’ve got $4000 of other people’s money in your pocket.

Ali’s friend serves them up some tea, introduces the family, then disappears to a nearby carpet shop apparently to arrange the deal. The carpet seller’s not up for it, though, so they return to Thamel. Here, Ali takes them to a bureau de change and finally negotiates the deal at the official exchange rate!