Friday, July 14, 2006

Its a Panda affair!

Pandas, Pandas, Pandas!
The other day (yes time is blending and I currently have no idea what day of the week it is) saw us up bright and early to go and see some pandas!! Wo-hoo! And when I say early, I mean EARLY. Up by six and out the door by 0715- criminal offence when you're on holiday I reckon!- we were on our way. Already very humid by this time, we were sweating buckets by the time we got to the research centre. Yes its a very big place called Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Centre where you get to see pandas in their "natural" habitat. Its pretty cool, but due to the heat (at least that's what we reckon) the rolly-polly bears were not very active. It was their feeding time which according to all "sources" is their most active time. That day however, I think they just preferred to keep as still as possible so as not to overheat. Can't say I blamed them either. It were stinking hot!
We saw a few having a bit of a play round, one fulla was having a bit of an itch, a couple of them were giving us a wee snore, but for the most part they were just hanging out.
The little red pandas though gave us a bit more movement. One fulla had a bit of a stretch, a bit of a scratch and a bit of a yawn. However the most active one (must have been a female) was getting in there and having a good ol' feed. Hurrah! Movement!
Triumph was to be short lived. The heavens decided to dump their entire contents upon us. While at first it was refreshing, realising you don't know how long it'll take to get back home in soaking wet clothes, we made for cover along with everyone else it seemed. Sheltering from the rain we took in the film about the average pandas life in the centre. Birth, dating, mating, food etc. Up close and personal on the big screen is a bit too graphic really for a rainy afternoon.
With a break in the weather we made a dash for it. Caught our little rickety bus and headed back to the hostel for a hot shower and a beer.
Feeling refreshed, we settled down to our beer in the bar and a night of relaxation.

Holidays rule!

1 comment:

Vernon said...

Before lunch! Very bloody early for holiday time.
Nice couple of pics here.