Kabilash Weather Station Install
Yesterday was a long day. Up at 5:15, breakfast at 6:30 left the hotel by 7:20. Sounds like a work day. We drove to Kabilash.
Stopped to buy a case of water and had warm milk at the ex-mayor’s house. The we drove up the mountain to the village and
arrived by 10:30. School was underway so we tried to minimize the disruption but that’s pretty hard to do given the excitement
around having visitors from the USA. We got right to work installing the Bloomsky weather station on the roof of the school. All
the teachers were very excited. They asked so many questions about weather, data and they were even interested in watching
our technique of installing the units. It took about 1 hour as Rick and Madhav hung over the edge of the roof of the school and
drilled into the cement. The cordless drill we brought didn’t have enough charge and it was 120V so we couldn’t charge it
anywhere in the village. We were surprised when they brought us a hammer drill but they had no check key and the plus was
just two bare wires. We managed to use a drill bit and a screw driver to loosen the chuck (old trick learned from Dad) and then
we covered the metal part of the drill with cardboard to avoid getting a shock (not grounded). We got them installed and the
first pictures of the sky were perfect with the mountains on the horizon (bloomsky.com). Then Rick, Cordella and Madhav went
to the English class and sat in for about 45 minutes answering questions and talking with the students. Then it was time for our
hike to the next village to scope out a possible project for next year. It was a 1 hour hike, about 30 minutes past the spring box
we installed last year. We arrived at the top of the next mountain just in time as it started to rain. We got a glimpse of what the
monsoon season brings. We sat on the porch at the home of one of the villages (4,153ft) and watched the rain pour down. It
was beautiful. Some students walking home also ran up to the porch to get out of the rain. After about 30 minutes the sky
started to clear. We waited another 45 minutes for villagers to arrive to talk about the water issue in the village but the rainstorm
made the trail very muddy and slippery. Only one man made it up the trail. So Rick flew the drone to survey the area from the
air. Everyone is amazed when they see the drone and even more amazed when they see the live video feed while it is flying over
their village. We surveyed the entire area, got some great aerial shots and landed the drone back on the porch. We will upload
this to youtube when we get back (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUXIeF4rv1-bEH6YJ31fxnA).
It was going to get dark soon so we waited as long as we could for the trail to dry and then started our hike back. Going
downhill is actually harder than coming up. The tendency is to lean forward which takes a toll on the calves of us flatlanders.
The trail wasn’t too slippery but looking over the edge even under dry conditions is a bit unnerving to say the least. We made it
back to the villge just at sunset. We linked to the bloomsky weather station and the sunset picture of the sky was spectacular. If
you want to see amazing sunsets tune in at 9AM EST to the Kabilas unit on bloomsky.com you also get a tiny view of the village.
We had just enough time to video an interview with some of the little girls who speak English, say our goodbyes and get
into the SUV for the ride down the mountain. The drive back to Kathmandu took a bit longer in the dark but the road wasn’t
very busy so it worked out without any trouble. We made it back to the hotel by 10:30PM and we were exhausted. It’s Friday
now, we will be going to the local university to give a presentation at 2PM today, then it’s back to Aapchour tomorrow to inspect
the beginning of our construction. More tomorrow….