The long awaited adventure finally took off after a long break. All looking happy and excited! We had arrived one day earlier before our birding tour started. Our very own adventure started the moment we touched down at Danang International Airport. One of our teammates saw that our hotel was nearby, seems to be walkable, hence we all decided to walk there. And yes, we could see our hotel from the airport but the walk there almost drained our energy before the trip started. We settled in, went for dinner, had our first banh mi and called for the night.
It's our first day of our trip and the pick up time from our hotel was 530am. We all managed to gather except for one, as usual, skipped the morning session. Our Guide, Quyen, is hosting us again and we were all glad to see him again. The target for this morning was the Langurs. We arrived at the 1st point after a 30mins drive but didn't get to see the Langurs. Then Quyen asked if we wanted to shoot the nesting of the Blue-bearded bee-eater, quickly we all said Yes!! But we needed to hike about 800m up a steep hill. Happily we all said just go, no problem!! The hike was truly a wake up call, didn't expect it to be so steep! But the rewards were good! Worth it!! 
We also managed to shoot the rare endangered Red-shanked Douc Langurs on our way up. Mission accomplished! 
We are back at the hotel for breakfast then proceeded with checkout, and finally we are on our 6hr journey drive up to Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve.
We stopped for a simple lunch midway at Cafe No 1 Garden, followed by a photoshoot of the Wired-tailed swallows along the riverside. At last we arrived at our humble hotel, Nhà Nghi HOÀNG GIA TRANG, where we would stay for the next 2 nights.
We set out at 530am the next day, having our breakfast along the way. Today, we would embark on an 800m mountainous hike into the highland forest to reach our 1st bird hide of the trip. This journey really puts our stamina, endurance, determination and mind power to a test. Crossing 3 valley streams in a VVV manner, with steep descent and ascent, with the final push all the way to the Hide, estimated about 1800m above sea level. With our backpacks, gears, and tripods in tow, the trekking adventure commenced, except for one who hired a porter!
We are targeting 2 key birds here, the Red-tailed Laughing Thrush and the Golden-winged Laughing Thrush. And we nailed it!! 
There were also quite a number of other birds seen at this Hide such as the Brown-crowned Scimitar Babbler, the Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher, the Rufous-winged Fulvetta, the Indochinese Fulvetta, the Snowy-browed Flycatcher, both male and female, and a juvenile, and the White-throated Fantail. A few of them were lifers for us. 
The Spiny orb-weavers are one of the most unique spiders where they can show off a variety of colours, shapes and patterns. They also come in different sizes especially in their adult form. Their webs can go as big stretching tree to tree, spanning a distance of one to two metres. 1. Gasteracantha doriae (Doria's Spiny Spider) - My first encounter of this spider was at Mandai Track 7 high up above my head, and the second encounter was at Old Upper Thomson Road PCN. 2. Gasteracantha kuhli (Black-and-white Spiny Spider) - This spider was seen many times at a neighbourhood park in Yishun and also along Yishun Ave 1. I believed it can be seen in parks with dense vegetation. It is a small spider with a big web. 3. Gasteracantha mengei (Spiny Orbweaver) - Both encounters were seen along Mandai Track 7. They are huge and their webs are high up in the tree. 4. Macracantha arcuata (Curved Spiny Spider or Longhorn Orbweaver) - This species was previously in the genu...
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