climbing the mountains around the lake with henry's dad

i am not a huge nature freak. As in, the beautiful sky, peaceful waters,wind in my face and the sun on my brow make me fell good and hold a sense of beauty. But, not in a way thast i ll take up espeditions every weekend in the countryside or learn river rafting for the ultimate high in life.

Having established my nature related inclinations, i was not very thrilled with henry knocking on my door one morning asking me to get ready in 5 minutes to proceed to climb the mountains around the west lake. henry's dad , henry and i set out on a scaringly hot morning seemingly, to climb the mountains.

i had prepared myself for a trek kind of climb in the sweltering heat, and i was not wrong!
there were stairs leading to the top, and Henry's dad chose the more adventurous, non staired, non-laid path. WOW! lucky me!
first, all i could do is look at my watch at contemplate how long it would take for us to get over with this ordeal. This went on for a while, after which i was overcome with acute discomfort.. but why? oh wait it was because of my 8 kg backpack! having run out of tissues in the first 15 min, sun-screen all wiped out with the sweat, pain in every possible way i could and just when i was about to give up... i heard some weird chirping sounds. they were really unique and ones i had never heard before. Some were long, some furtive but continual, some piercingly prolonged.....
With minimal effort, i came across a seating area amid the trees. there were some stone carved chairs and about 20-30 elderly men and women sitting around on those seats. All of them with a colorful cage infront of them. The chirpings i heard were from their birds and this was a routine these elderly people carried out almost everyday. Climb the mountain with the pet bird and leave it there with other caged birds for singing practice!
isnt that the cutest thing! it was so cute watching the whole affair.. the oldies chit chatting, birds haveing a secrest musical conversation of their own, the sun rays making its way through the canopy of trees, ah, it was a delight!
Oh wait a minute, arent we forgetting something? a certain Mr pain and his wife Mrs discomfort? voila! they were both gone! just like that. i just needed a diversion(and someone to carry my bag!)
By now i had begun taking in the scenery, the beautiful view of the mountain, the glittery water of the west lake it was all coming together.

There was an army boot camp kind of gathering i chanced upon too. turned out to be a singing practice class for young singers. All screaming their lungs out...

by the time i got up, i was exhausted but the feeling of being up there just engulfs and destroys any fatigue..
It was amazing!
more to follow