Pictures from near Bingzhongluo

At a Lisu homestead up above Bingzhongluo

Lisu teenager showing how to fire a cross bow.

The famous river bend just before you get to Bingzhongluo- its a shame someone put powerlines down the middle of the spur of land.

Snow monkey video and diary online

Learning to fire a traditional crossbow at a Lisu homestead above the town of Bingzhongluo close to the Tibetan border.

Dave Clark has made a flash animation diary of the trip with my pictures and the trip videos at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/video/2010-09/21/content_11323686.htm .

Crossing Gaoligongshan

Gaoligongshan

Crossing Gaoligongshan with 2 mules- this first bit worked out really well. Saw signs of wildlife- Takin? poo and tracks and fruit nibbled by monkeys, and we saw lots of small squirrels and one giant squirrel. There's a video of this on the China Daily website http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/video/2010-08/11/content_11134216.htm

The Nujiang River

The Nujiang- on the 1-5 scale of river rapids, a canoeing website I found had this one has rapids rated at 10! Not that I intend to canoe on it. This will be a trekking expedition; the idea being to trek northwards through the Gaoligongshan monsoon forests on the west (Burma side) bank of the Nujiang.

1 month to go now. The team as it stands at present is me, Dave Clark (photographer who came with me to Siberia 2003 and Brazil ( www.lostworld2001.com ) in 2001, Ian Craig (friend of Dave's) and Alang, a Chinese explorer. At some point mid trip, Ian will be heading back to Beijing and Dave will go part way to update websites etc. This will be the test to see if my rudimentary Chinese is up to it.

Check out the videos from the 2008 Bolivia trip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lj7kFw5c0A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZlr_JXHKw0

MAIN WEBSITE www.simonsjungle.co.uk

The Mission

High in the pine forests of the Meili Snow Mountain lives the Snow Monkey. Thick-set and covered with long, shaggy hair to keep out the mountain cold, it is a creature that lives at higher altitudes than any other primate, and the strangest thing about it is its face. It has no nose; nothing sticking out at all, just the holes of its nostrils sinking in above its fat, swollen lips. This is a strange beast indeed. The Yunnan Snub nosed monkey, to give it its proper name, lives in such cold, out-of-the-way places that it has to scrape off the rubbery grey lichen than clings to the branches of the forest trees when food runs out in the winter. Our mission is to go and find it. It will be difficult but spectacular journey.

So. You want to find the snow monkey?

You want to trek jagged ridges, ……Zip-lining across rocky ravines where raging rivers surge and froth ... And climb into misty forests, home of the red panda and deer with fangs?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then this is the expedition for you. On this trip, you’ll be exploring the mountains of southwest China. Here, the monsoon winds blow warmth and moisture up deep gorges through which rivers race out of Tibet towards the South China Sea. Here is where the steaming jungle meets the high Himalayas.

http://www.simonsjungle.co.uk/