Today we are going to finally see the Red Pandas…

But first there’s breakfast to get thru. The ladies are trying their best to figure out what will make us happy – and today there are Pancakes! That’s a winner – and of course we all enjoy a scrambled egg – Helmut wants his Marsala Style, Andrea and I opt for plain. I’m a fan of the Pomegranate Fruit Juice – it’s quite yummy.

We get an earlier start today – because the spotters are already up and have let Rio know that they think they have a Red Panda spotted. The sooner we get up to Gairibus the better.

It’s truly incredible how quickly these guys can put peddle to the metal – our 1.5 hr drive yesterday is only 1 hr today! Sheesh.

The spotters have a seen a Red Panda in a tree – but a bit further in on the Napel side than Rio would like – but he feels that we really need a Red Panda – so after warning us to be quiet – we start in on a trail thru the Bamboo Forest.

Here’s an alert – no matter how large your group – if you are more than 5 feet apart – you are invisible to each other. The teams know this of course – so they use bird sounds to keep in physical touch without alarming the Red Pandas.

Everyone make the first part of the climb – but pretty soon both Helmut and I decide – we’ve done enough. So we stop – and our minders keep us company. The rest file into the woods – Abi carrying my camera so at least one of us gets the credit for the sighting.

They return after about 30 minutes – the red panda posed nicely for pictures – and Abi managed to get my camera to take photos!

Helmut and I could see the Red Panda from our view point, but it was too far for anything but top end binoculars.

The rest of the team returns – we go for lunch. It’s Chicken again. I’m really wondering why all the bones? After lunch our host tells us that there was another sighting – but they decided we needed to eat so they didn’t tell us. Bummer – this time I would have tried the climb myself. Oh well – there’s tomorrow.

After lunch there are no more sightings – so we head back down the Mountain to our HomeStay. Rio tells us to take a rest – dinner is at 7:30.

I turn on my heated mattress and warm up my toes. Next time I come to the Himalayan Mountains I’m definitely bringing warmer socks and a proper sweater! When the suns out – it’s nice and warm, but when the sun is hidden by the mist – aka Clouds – it’s cold and damp. We’re at 12,000 feet at the top of the Mountain, about 10,000 where the Red Panda’s live – and a much more reasonable 8,000 where we are sleeping.

There is no point not realizing that we are at Altitude. Drink Water – Lots of Water!

Dinner is another Indian Feast – this time featuring Beef. And while the cut is in recognizable, it’s almost a pot roast in tenderness. I quite enjoy it. And again they serve a uniquely Indian Dessert. I’d call it bread pudding actually – although clearly there’s no bread in it – and no pudding! Yummy anyway.

Then bed.

Another early day tomorrow. I’m hoping the dog fight happens at a more reasonable hour… I’m not silly enough to hope for NO Dog fight!

Signing off – The Soup Lady