It has been now six days that we are based in Kalewa, and the team is growing everyday. Virginia, Jan, huasheng and Alexis have been joined by Hnin Hnin Swe, Myat kay Thi, and Guillaume, and we are all together working on improving the stratigraphy and the paleoclimatic record of the Upper Eocene and Oligocene (40-24 million years ago) sedimentary deposits of the area. Our day to day work includes paleomagnetic and geochronological sampling for dating deposits, logging of sections, and sampling for pollen and various paleoclimatic proxies. We are fortunately helped by the staff of the local coal mines, and commonly reach the most remote parts of the valley in the trunk of coal trucks, when our 4x4s cannot go further. Most of our time is spent working along stream beds, where rock exposure is the best. But we are not the only ones in the river: buffalos, wild dogs, and snakes like roaming around us.