Finding Shangri-La by Road

Dawn at Meili Mountains - 6,700mtrs

6 May 2012, we finally made it to Shangri-La Tibet, after spending months planing the trip with my cycling kakis. I had read James Hilton's novel titled "Lost Horizon" and also saw the movie version many years ago. It intrigued me to know of such a mystical place on earth. yet I knew it was too good to be true, especially in the 21st century.
When we finally arrived at Shangri-La, formerly known as Diqing, our guide, Tuden quickly told us that Shangri-La lies inside each person's heart. I knew by the tone of his voice, that he had his fair share of encounters with disillusioned tourists who fell under the spell of James Hilton's novel. It was a good thing I had done quite a bit of research and had lowered my expections before the trip.
In the end, I must say I throughly enjoyed my visit, because of the exceptional hospitatlity from the staff of Songtsam Lodges, who showed us the rustic but simple lives of true-blooded Tibetans when we visited their homes, rather than spend time in the new town of Shangri-La. It was facinating to know that they still lived much the same as their ancestors did a century ago. The dedication they gave to their families, the village and their monks is with the deepest sincerity & love for their people & culture. I wish the Tibetans continued bliss in their Shangri-La.

 Prayer Flags at 4,300 mtrs enroute to Meili Mountains

 Wearing the cowboy hats helped shield us from the blazing sun.  

 At Songtsam Lodge, Shangri-La

 Horse riding at Shangri-La with the local farmers

 The road to Deqin along a 200km stretch of trecherous mountaineous terrain

prone to rock slides   

Our 3 charming ladies at Lijiang Old Town

Fishing at Sabah 27-30 April 2012

We fished off Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from 27-30 April onboard a 68 foot traditional wooden boat. The sea was mirror calm & the water simply lovely. Fishing for Rubys was at 200m depths. Should have brought the electric reels; bad mistake. Manual reeling is no fun when just checking bait. Most of us used 50lb braided with minimum 300m of line. Definately not sufficient for Sabah. I would recommend 80lb braided with at least 600m of line on electric reels. The action was immediate every time we anchored at a new spot. But it faded away after 5 to 8 strikes. Then it's off to a new nearby spot again for a repeat of the action. We used apollo rigs in the day and rangongs at night. Strangely, night fishing wasn't productive at all for all 3 nights. The best fishing occurred in the early morning. That was the only period when everyone caught fish continually. By early afternoon, the action would have halved and eventually die off after twilight. One thing we were really disapointed with was the lack of good service. If it was a charter boat at Tg Pinang, Indonesia, the service by the crew would have been fantastic. Sadly, the crew onboard this boat were only interested in catching their own fish. And I must say, they were very good at that indeed. We practically did everything on our own, except the cooking & piloting of the vessel. Although, we laughed it off & put that to a different culture, I felt the crew could have done better. In any case, the fishing overall was satisfactory. I suppose going there once every couple of years would be good enough. I still prefer the fishing charters run by the Indonesians off Tg Pinang & Batam.            

WF with one of many Angkolis

Tony with a 9kg Amber Jack caught at 120m

 

Raimi with an 8.5kg Amber Jack

Ramesh with his first Angkoli caught at 98m

Jeffrey with the smallest fish he caught so far

WF with the first Ruby Red Snapper

A very nice eating Grouper

A 16kg Kaotoon caught on sardines

Adrian with a very scally fish, nick named, Durian