Although the computer then failed I still felt smug as I had religiously got my 1TB external back up disk saving regularly, putting down only ever new changes at 3am every day, HOWEVER as the computer had been failing it wasn't backing up properly, ugghhhhh. Luckily we got installed a new hard drive and all the information extracted and reinstalled without any loss.
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| Gentleman going to ride over that!! bridge |
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| Over the river near Ya'an |
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| A scary ride using motorised transport |
We left Heathrow and arrived in Hong Kong to then be forwarded to Chengdu in China, our starting point. As soon as we arrived the group had already been summoned to go and look at the local park for any birds to begin our holiday.....this basically indicated the tone of the holiday, no spare time for anything except bird watching. The benefits of having the OH keen on birds is that you get taken to the most amazing places the downside is that you have to fight your corner for anything not related to birds...therefore if you want to take photos they are taken very quickly, without stopping the bus, without interfering with anyones birdwatching. Thus I was adept at having my ISO on high to capture any action and most photos were taken through the bus window. Even so I did slowly wear down the guide a little who capitulated occasionally to stop for a photo!! I was occasionally frustrated throughout the holiday as I rarely was able to photograph individuals from the front having to capture a photo from the inside of the bus or by using my long lens. Now living in an incredibly touristic town I am aware of the benefits and downsides to tourists, having been gathered for a photograph by numerous Chinese, Japanese, Italian, American and French tourists. There were so many photos I could not get, the inside of a meat market, traditionally dressed locals, interesting vehicles - all evaded me as I accepted they did not want photos taken.
Our first full day took us to Longcanggou. Our first stop however was at Ya'an
