Chengdu Travel - A couple of Weeks ago we received an enquiry from a young Canadian engineer - on a short working trip in Shanghai - about wanting a weekend break with a difference - something a little beyond the usual 'snap-snap another nice photo' experience. So where better to go than explore some of the trails around
Moxi (about 5 hours to the west of Chengdu). This scenic area with its forests and soaring peaks oozes adventure - but what we didn't expect was the weather - a day before we set-off
Moxi had sun - when we got there it was in the middle of a snow storm!!!
It was snowing the whole of the first day - here's the path we took the first morning.
Although the temperatures weren't too cold you need to dress well for these type of conditions - our guest; Dave - with Meggie.
The snow and the ice created some very pretty scenes. Many of the trees here are covered with hanging moss - in the sub-zero conditions this had frozen to create an effect that would have been the envy of any Christmas tree.
The frozen berries also looked very neat.
They may have been cold - but the birds were still tucking into them. This is a White-
throated Redstart.
It's also good fun playing with these snow-shot photos in
Photoshop.
In cold conditions what better way of getting warm that to build a campfire. We moved out of the forest and got some firewood from a local farmer - we had taken grill meat with us from Chengdu - but that snow is falling even harder.
That's better - it didn't take long to get a good blaze.
Nothing like grilling in the snow - we had ribs, steak, sausages, corn and potatoes - and just to wash it down some local brandy mixed up into a hot toddy with boiling water and brown sugar. That fire was very effective - we spent six hours grilling, talking and watching the embers.
We weren't going to keep that fire going all night - so back to the hotel - and set the electric blankets to top heat. The hotel we stayed at was rather primitive - but these electric blankets keep you cosy enough.
To get our car through the snow we fit chains onto the drive wheels.
Although the snow had stopped falling the second day we needed those chains to climb the pass to get to our second walk. It's difficult for camera light-meters to work out settings when you have a combination of silver car and white-snow!!!
The big problem with our first day had been the low cloud which had prevented us from enjoying the view - but as we climbed over the 3,000m mark we started to drive through the top layers.
Up around 4,000m we were in strong sunlight - indeed so strong, I had no sun-glasses, my eyes suffered minor irritation the following night.
The walk here is fantastic - at this height we're coming close to 5,000m. As usual we all had to take it easy in the thin air - but our guest had no altitude problems.
and we still had a rib or two from the night before - they taste extra better up here!!!
We found this Christmas-tree like branch by the side of the prayer-flag - I'm sure its nothing to do with our own festivities - but it does look rather seasonal.
These mountains are great places!
Chengdu Travel - A couple of Weeks ago we received an enquiry from a young Canadian engineer - on a short working trip in Shanghai - about wanting a weekend break with a difference - something a little beyond the usual 'snap-snap another nice photo' experience. So where better to go than explore some of the trails around Moxi (about 5 hours to the west of Chengdu). This scenic area with its forests and soaring peaks oozes adventure - but what we didn't expect was the weather - a day before we set-off Moxi had sun - when we got there it was in the middle of a snow storm!!!
It was snowing the whole of the first day - here's the path we took the first morning.
Although the temperatures weren't too cold you need to dress well for these type of conditions - our guest; Dave - with Meggie.
The snow and the ice created some very pretty scenes. Many of the trees here are covered with hanging moss - in the sub-zero conditions this had frozen to create an effect that would have been the envy of any Christmas tree.
The frozen berries also looked very neat.
They may have been cold - but the birds were still tucking into them. This is a White-throated Redstart.
It's also good fun playing with these snow-shot photos in Photoshop.
In cold conditions what better way of getting warm that to build a campfire. We moved out of the forest and got some firewood from a local farmer - we had taken grill meat with us from Chengdu - but that snow is falling even harder.
That's better - it didn't take long to get a good blaze.
Nothing like grilling in the snow - we had ribs, steak, sausages, corn and potatoes - and just to wash it down some local brandy mixed up into a hot toddy with boiling water and brown sugar. That fire was very effective - we spent six hours grilling, talking and watching the embers.
We weren't going to keep that fire going all night - so back to the hotel - and set the electric blankets to top heat. The hotel we stayed at was rather primitive - but these electric blankets keep you cosy enough.
To get our car through the snow we fit chains onto the drive wheels.
Although the snow had stopped falling the second day we needed those chains to climb the pass to get to our second walk. It's difficult for camera light-meters to work out settings when you have a combination of silver car and white-snow!!!
The big problem with our first day had been the low cloud which had prevented us from enjoying the view - but as we climbed over the 3,000m mark we started to drive through the top layers.
Up around 4,000m we were in strong sunlight - indeed so strong, I had no sun-glasses, my eyes suffered minor irritation the following night.
The walk here is fantastic - at this height we're coming close to 5,000m. As usual we all had to take it easy in the thin air - but our guest had no altitude problems.
and we still had a rib or two from the night before - they taste extra better up here!!!
We found this Christmas-tree like branch by the side of the prayer-flag - I'm sure its nothing to do with our own festivities - but it does look rather seasonal.
These mountains are great places!
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