Cycling Across The Tibetan Plateau
Spring 2019

Where Lucille has been for the past 24 hours.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Strange day in Kathmandu

There are protests and strikes here in Kathmandu which means that all the shops are closed and no traffic on the streets.....which makes for a very quiet Kathmandu.  Since I can't shop I may as well post some terrific pictures of Domhnall on the summit of Manaslu.  Sorry to be so delayed with the posting, but we just arrived last night and a cold beer with pizza took presidence!!!


 This is a picture of the sunrise on the morning of Domhnall's summit. The moon rise was a few hours after we left Camp 3, and it lit up the other peaks around us which was spectacular.  Then the sunrise was at about 5am I think, and the view was so beautiful I can't describe it and the picture really doesn't do it justice.  Both Domhnall and I were too cold at that moment to pull out our camera's so this picture is from a friend.  These incredible views are part of the reason that we do climb these huge peaks.  It is a great feeling and in those special moments we feel so alive and so lucky to be able to enjoy nature's beauty.  




 Domhnall on his way up, I am not too sure of the location but the smile is probably because he is warm.  His hood is down and the zip is also down a bit.....good enough reason for the big smile!  He must be close to the summit.


 Domhnall on the summit.  Great pose!  He did say that this was the toughest day that he has had in the mountains......enough reason for his big grin!  Awesome achievement my friend!!!



These pictures are a bit older, and I have posted them just so that you get a bit of an understanding of how much snow we had to deal with on a daily basis.  This photo is taken from our cave in camp 1 looking down at the tents of the other teams.  The snow is almost up to Domhnall's thighs as he is walking up!  When we slept in a tent, it would not be unusual for one of us to get up during the night to clear the snow from the tent, preventing it from collapsing on us.    In the morning there would always be more shoveling, and it was for this reason that we built the snow cave at camp one and two. 

 This last photo is us showing off the snow cave to some Sherpa visitors.  Not a great view, but my sleeping platform is where Domhnall and the Sherpa are looking, and the stove was against the wall right behind the Sherpa's shoulder.  The cave was great because we didn't have to dig it out every day and it was warm and quiet in there. 


1 comment:

EKIM, STEVE AND JIMS NEPAL TRIP said...

Great pics Lucille. It looks like the snow cave was on the flat? Yike that is a pile of work at 9'000 feet let alone th elevation you were at. Tough bunch of cookies you two are. What a great view looking back to the cloud filled valleys, fantastic. Domnhall looks proud on the summit, no standing on one foot shots? You both did great.
The strike must make Kathmandu seem very strange without the constant noise, kinda like the day of the election when we got there the first time , but then we didn't realize at that time it was something weird. So is it the Maoists leading the strike or are the locals strike against them?