Vanessa's Journal

Dec. 2

Woke up 3 a.m. due to jet lag. Worked on forestry homework
Resist temptation to walk 30 minutes to get buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, settle for hotel food.

Take bus to Wolong (3 hours 45 minutes)- nice drive, beautiful mountains, but disturbed by extent of littering I saw, amazed at how this trip gets shorter and shorter every time I take it (better road conditions)…good for travelers but this means panda habitat more and more exposed.

Got to Wolong. Felt like I never left. Ran into a friend who helped me carry my bags (everyone is friendly as usual), met my MSU colleague, PhD student Wei Liu.  Good to be back- surreal- everyone is treating me like they just saw me yesterday…and I also feel like I was just here yesterday. 

I am COLD- decide to wear hat and gloves and 3 layers 24/7…people see me with all of my layers and say “it’s a little cold, isn’t it?”

Notice that snow caps the higher mountains. Wei says the first snowfall is last night and he thinks it is a good omen (that it happened just the night before I came…he was telling me on the phone that people were wondering when first snow was coming and panda trapping is usually understood as being best in the snow…i.e. you can’t trap until it starts snowing)

Feels much quieter and more peaceful here in winter,  probably because no tourists.