Birding in Baoshan
It has been more than 2 months since my last update as I have gotten very distracted with my other pursuits like reading, photography, cooking, exercise and travel (not necessarily in that order).
After my last update on our Deepavali gathering, Sang and I have spent more time cooking. With that comes the additional effort of cleaning and washing up which is bloody annoying. Nevertheless, we are growing to enjoy the cooking process although cutting onions is still one of my least favourite things to do.
November was a rather drab month. The wet season was not in full tow yet and that meant many warm, humid and uncomfortable days. I was counting down in anticipation of my December travel plans while Sang was on the hunt for a new job. Unfortunately, she is still looking for a new job.
Anyway, November laboured on, as would any period prior to a holiday, and December dawned upon us. On December 3rd, I bid Sang farewell at the Darwin Airport and made my way to Singapore. Arriving early in the morning, I made my way to my parents' place to deposit my luggage as well as have breakfast. I then scurried to ICA to collect my renewed passport without which I would be barred from entering China the following day. I did make it to China with Alvin and we went to a village called Baihualing in the Gaoligongshan Mountain Range situated in Baoshan, Yunnan.
The next 4 days saw us sitting in bird hides and silently observing and photographing birds doing all sorts of things. Sitting in the hides were torturous given that we sat on tiny stools for 10 - 11 hours each day. As we didn't know when the different species of birds would arrive, we had to keep rather still and pay constant attention. Some species were famous for making guests appearances that meant a shooting window of less than 10 seconds. To top it off, most hides had other birders puffing away while Alvin and I choked and suffocated in cigarette smoke. It is quite annoying to have to constantly inhale cigarette smoke while amidst the fresh, cool mountain air and it is definitely something that I despised.
Thankfully, the numerous birds and their colourful displays, together with some stunning scenery, more than made up for the pain we experienced in the hides. Food at our homestay was so fantastic and the manager of the homestay, Jeremy Yip, was a warm and pleasant character who constantly interacted with us during our stay. During the hours after birding, I managed to walk around the village to enjoy the scenery and observe the simplistic lives of the locals.
On the fifth day, we travelled for 2 hours by car from the village to the Baoshan Airport and that was when I truly regretted packing my camera away. It was during that journey that I really saw the culture and lives of the locals in Baoshan. That moment, I felt that I have to revisit Baoshan again some day but not for the birds.
After a stop over at Kunming International Airport, I was back in Singapore again. This time, I stayed the night at Sentill's place before Sang and I rendezvoused at Anandha Bhavan in Little India for a vegetarian breakfast that we had been earning for. The next 2 days would see us catching up with friends and family before we headed off for our next adventure. More on that in the next update.
On a side note, why does Blogger's interface suck so bad? It's 2017! One would think that piecing together images and text should be a no brainer...
Anyway...
November was a rather drab month. The wet season was not in full tow yet and that meant many warm, humid and uncomfortable days. I was counting down in anticipation of my December travel plans while Sang was on the hunt for a new job. Unfortunately, she is still looking for a new job.
Anyway, November laboured on, as would any period prior to a holiday, and December dawned upon us. On December 3rd, I bid Sang farewell at the Darwin Airport and made my way to Singapore. Arriving early in the morning, I made my way to my parents' place to deposit my luggage as well as have breakfast. I then scurried to ICA to collect my renewed passport without which I would be barred from entering China the following day. I did make it to China with Alvin and we went to a village called Baihualing in the Gaoligongshan Mountain Range situated in Baoshan, Yunnan.
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| Lunch at the hide. Food was always excellent |
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| Jeremy's Hide - |
Thankfully, the numerous birds and their colourful displays, together with some stunning scenery, more than made up for the pain we experienced in the hides. Food at our homestay was so fantastic and the manager of the homestay, Jeremy Yip, was a warm and pleasant character who constantly interacted with us during our stay. During the hours after birding, I managed to walk around the village to enjoy the scenery and observe the simplistic lives of the locals.
On the fifth day, we travelled for 2 hours by car from the village to the Baoshan Airport and that was when I truly regretted packing my camera away. It was during that journey that I really saw the culture and lives of the locals in Baoshan. That moment, I felt that I have to revisit Baoshan again some day but not for the birds.
After a stop over at Kunming International Airport, I was back in Singapore again. This time, I stayed the night at Sentill's place before Sang and I rendezvoused at Anandha Bhavan in Little India for a vegetarian breakfast that we had been earning for. The next 2 days would see us catching up with friends and family before we headed off for our next adventure. More on that in the next update.
On a side note, why does Blogger's interface suck so bad? It's 2017! One would think that piecing together images and text should be a no brainer...
Anyway...
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