Kingfisher Ecolodge Day 1

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5.30am - a noise, music, an alarm clock, a mosquito net above us, jungle sounds outside, where are we?

Day 1 at Kingfisher Ecolodge and we are off bird watching at 6am, the suns just coming up but it's already very hot - we have 3 local guides the tallest around 5 feet.

Heading out through Khiet Gong village the locals are all up sitting around smoking fires to keep the insects away, sitting under their stilted homes surrounded by Pigs, Chickens, Ducks etc. Just another day of very basic living in Laos.

We head out across empty rice paddies, waiting for the second planting of the season. The forested hillside is full of big Rainforest trees, no chainsaws have yet ventured this way. The 3 hour session across first paddies, forest and finally wetland was a success although most birdlife is some way away.

Lee and Rick visited the village in late morning and became surrounded by school children wanting pictures taken and to listen to Lees MP3 - Had they known the music on it then they wouldn't haver asked (but kids are never too young to get into Faith No More)

In the late afternoon the 3 of us headed up to Phou Asa an ancient monument on a lava flow high above the Lodge, it was very humid in the afternoon, although Ice Man Ricky refused to break into a sweat - Lee was dripping wet. The wildlife was very hard to see in the thick jungle canopy, but there was plenty of niose.

Showers were required once we giot back to the lodge, a foot long Gecko had taken it upon himself guard the entrance - picture to follow.

The evening was relaxed although the numbers of bitting insects were huge!

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