"What an interesting day. We took a trolley up to 3.500 metres and then we walked up to 3.750.

Tonight we will stay at a camp site for climbers and skiers. It's called 'The Barrels', and it looks like the barrel that goes in a petrol truck but 3 or 4 times its size, with several rooms. It's all very quaint and typical. The Russian army used these barrels in the arctic zones, and therefore they're all decorated with the Russian flag. Thus, one third of the barrel is white, another one blue and the third one is red. Half our team is in one barrel and the other half in a different barrel. Each barrel houses six people, and there are eleven of these all over.

Up here there's all the other teams trying to reach the summit. We really heven't been able to speak mucho with other people, but I do know there's a Canadian team. Oh, and yesterday I found out something really nice: the two Norwegian women on my team are a couple. They're getting married by the end of the year and this was a birthday present from one of them to the other.

Yesterday we had a bit of a problem with our tour guides because we split into two groups. One of them stayed behind helping the slowest member of our team, which is not the right thing to do. The slowest one is supposed to set the rhythm, not trail behind! But now we know that's not gonna happen again.

Back to where we're staying, there's only one kitchen and each team has been given a time slot to eat. We eat at 7 pm. Ever since we reached 3000 metres we've had a cook who fixes our meals.

And, as a matter of fact, we've eaten quite well. Granted, Russian food is filled with carbohidrates. Breakfast is always one or two cups of porridge, loads of bread, salami, cheese, and some fruit. Lunch always comes with soup. Yesterday, for instance, it was a broth with potatoes, chard, cream and egg. I know it sounds nasty but it was delicious. It's the closest thing to an ajiaco I've eaten since I left Colombia. Normally at lunch they serve us a tray with cheeses and ham with bread, tomatoes, cucumbers and some fruit. And at night we get some soup and some protein. Yesterday, it was chicken. But we normally eat these delicious lamb shish-kebabs they make at a barbecue.

And then there's the water issue. We're drinking boiled snow. Every night we give our canteen to the cook, the boils the snow and hands us the canteens filled with boiling water which will be ready to drink the next day.

That's whi there's a different etiquette over here. Since we drink the snow, men are not allowed to pee wherever we may well please. And there's no toilets anymore. There's letrines. So if anyone is caught peeing in the wrong place, they get kicked out of the camp site.

Right now I'm at 3.750 metres and the view is incredible. I'm surrounded with snowy mountains. At this height, every mountain is snowy. Behind me are the two peaks at Mt. Elbrus. One is 5.621 metres and the other one, whic I will be reaching, is 5.642 metres.

Tomorrow we plan to reach the following station, which stands at 4.200 metres. The higher yo climb the less you feel the distance. From that station we will be able to see the summit, and it will look pretty close, even though it's a 13 to 14 hour walk. We will be using harpoons and ice axes as climbing tools, and harnesses and ropes tied to each other in case there's any rick of falling.

I'd like to take a moment and express my gratefulness for the translation of this journal. Because of this, my British friends' families, mother and wife are following my blog and my campaign, which has reached 14% already. Still, we need a big 86% in order to be able to help the 157 single mothers who are the reason for my climbing this mountain in the first place."

Andrés Cruz is climbing Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, in support of 157 single mothers and teenagers who live in Cartagena. Follow his blog, and remember to make a donation.