Wednesday 1st of February and my alarm went off at 4 o'clock. My friend was already up and about by the time I got to the kitchen quarter past 4. We started to make my friend's favourite breakfast, cheese omelette with bacon.
And he will hopefully be happy, especially after the fiasco with the dinner yesterday.
The breakfast gets his approval
Early morning traffic in Bangkok
We are ready to leave a few minutes after 6 o'clock and we are soon on our way. 6 o'clock and it is light traffic crossing the Asoke / Sukhumvit intersection and we are soon getting up on the toll way at Rama 4.
We are hauling arse and we are soon leaving Bangkok behind. I fall asleep in the back and when I wake up we are in Phetchaburi. When I wake up next time we are already south of Hua Hin. We pass Kui Buri, we will stop here on the way back to Bangkok to look for elephants. This promise to be exciting.
We have been driving more than 300 km and the gas meter showed red so we had to stop to fill LPG so we can continue to Novotel in Chumphon where we will spend our first night.
We are in Kui Buri
We stop to buy LPG
We stop to buy LPG
We stop to buy LPG
We leave the gas stop and we continue towards south. Our first birding stop is at the eBird hotspot: Hat Wanakon NP. We turn left leaving the highway and we are immediately at a checkpoint where they want us to pay an entrance fee.
I was the only one having to pa. My friend is over 60 so he enters for free. The driver enters as a Guide and it is free. I have to pay 100 baht to enter.
Hat Wanakon National Park
Hat Wanakon National Park
We make our first stop at a three, the driver had seen a bird sitting in a top of the tree and he thought it was an Asian Openbill. The bird was much smaller than a Openbill, but what is it?
We stop and I went out to try to take a couple of pictures. And I ID the bird as a Crested Goshawk by the help of the bird book I bought for my driver a year or two ago.
I come back to the car and my friends are looking at Thai amulets (พระเครื่อง) on their phones.
I come back and they are busy with the Thai amulets (พระเครื่อง)
I get them to look up from the phones
We continue on the paved road towards the beach and we see and hear plenty birds in the forest along the road, but no pictures and no ID. Reaching the beach and there are a camping area and a visitor Center and a restaurant.
We stopped and I was about to get out of the car when we discovered a Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง in a bush next to us. I managed to get a picture before the bird took off.
There was, of course, many Red-wattled Lapwing in the area. I walk for about 20 meters when I see an owlet flying in to a tree. Light condition was very bad but I managed to get a picture.
I am busy trying to get pictures of the owlet when I spot two raptors soaring over the forest and I try to get some pictures. I got some pictures and I will tr to ID the birds when I am back in the car with the bird book.
Me and my friend walk along the road and there are many birds, but no pictures.
We call our friend and he come to pick us up with the taxi and we drive to the other side and I manage to get a picture of a Cattle Egret before we start to drive back to the main road. I get a picture of a Great Egret when we reach the highway.
We continue south towards our next stop, the eBird hotspot: Khao Dinsor (Khao Dinso) / Chumphon Raptor Center. We reached Chumphon Raptor Center and there was actually not much to see. There was one man working there and they sold ice cream.
There was also pictures and information about raptors, but no birds to be seen. I showed the pictures of the raptors I took in Hat Wanakon NP. We had one bird flying over and the man ID the bird as a Crested Honey-buzzard.
There was also a huge group of Asian Openbills soaring in the south.
Crested Honey-buzzard
Asian Openbills
Khao Dinsor (Khao Dinso) / Chumphon Raptor Center
We left Chumphon Raptor Center and we checked in to Novotel 30 minutes later. I had booked a golf car for 4 o'clock to go around the golf court looking for birds. We put our luggage in the rooms and we went to have dinner.
We were very hungry as we had not been eating since we left Bangkok. The food was very good, as I remember from last time I was here. A pot of tea and we went to pick up the golf cars. We had booked 2 rooms so they had reserved two golf cars for us.
I had only booked one but two will be more fun. We went to the golf car parking at the reception and we were soon on our way to look for birds.
Bird watching at eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club
We leave the hotel and it don't take many seconds before we see our first Pond Heron and Red-wattled Lapwing. Just a few minutes after that I had seen so many of them that I had lost track. The Pond Heron is a very quiet bird, but the Red-wattled Lapwing is very noisy and I can hear them all over the golf course.
Last time I was here the golf course was in use, but now it is abandoned and the nature have taken over. Some of the concrete paths are almost over grown, still possible to use the golf car. But if I come back in a year it might be a different story.
Bird watching at eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club
Bird watching at eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club
Bird watching at eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club
Bird watching at eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club
Bird watching at eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club
Bird watching at eBird hotspot: Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club
Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon, TH
01 Feb 2023 16:17 - 17:39
Protocol: Traveling
5.65 kilometer(s)
18 species (+1 other taxa)
Spotted Dove 2
Asian Koel X
White-breasted Waterhen 2
Red-wattled Lapwing X Impossible to count them, there were many
Oriental Darter 1
Little Cormorant 3
Great White Egret 4
Cattle Egret 3
pond heron sp. X Impossible to count them, there were many
Black Baza 2 Flushed from a tree when I approach with my golf car
White-throated Kingfisher 1
Indochinese Roller 5
Lineated Barbet 1 Heard all over the area, only one seen
Common Flameback 2
Black Drongo 2
Streak-eared Bulbul 2 Sitting on eggs at a spot light in the restaurant
Common Myna X Impossible to count all the Mynas
Vinous-breasted Myna 9 In groups with Great Mynas, impossible to count the Mynas
Great Myna X Impossible to count all the Mynas
Time passing very quickly and before we know it 90 minutes had passed and it was getting dark. We parked the golf cars and my friend went to 7 Eleven and I went for more salmons and a pot of tea. The salmon was yet again excellent!
I discovered a pair of Streak-eared Bulbul with a nest on top of one of the spotlights in the restaurant while enjoying my tea.
I went to my room and I had yet another pot of tea while looking at today's pictures. I went in to see how my friends were doing and they were not busy with the Thai amulets (พระเครื่อง) so I was surprised when my friend opened the door in a robe. Is it “Karate” evening?
Back to study Thai amulets (พระเครื่อง)
Back to study Thai amulets (พระเครื่อง)
+++++++++++++++
Thursday 2nd of February 2023 and we have decided to leave at 8 o'clock to be able to reach Hat Yai in the afternoon. I had told my friends yesterday that I would have breakfast around 6 thirty before taking an hour with the golf car to look for birds.
I was surprised when my friends showed up for breakfast as I had expected them to sleep longer today. But they came to join me.
I was alone in the restaurant so was I lucky that they joined me? I don't know, by the time they arrived I had loaded the toast machine. And my friends thought they were lucky when they came out with all the toast.
- There was plenty toast, they informed me.
- YOU TOOK MY TOAST!!!
Breakfast
He have enough toast
My toast goes down the hatch
I left my friends and we will meet at 8 to take off. I went to get my golf car and I left for my bird watching. Of course, plenty Pond Heron and Red-wattled Lapwings and when I reached the first pond I spotted a Black-capped Kingfisher.
I tried to sneak up on the bird but it took off before I got any picture.
I continued and I startled a coucal but too far away for any ID. Well, I need a picture of the bird to make a proper ID. Lesser and Greater looks the same, but the Greater have red eyes so if I get a picture I can ID the bird.
Greater VS Lesser Cucoual
• Lesser Coucal has black iris, Greater has red iris.
• Size, but for me it is impossible to see the difference unless the birds are next to each other
• Habitat. Lesser is unusual away from grassland or hillside habitats, Greater tends to prefer areas with some shrubs.
• Mantle/wing colour. Lesser tends to be slightly paler/greyer in tone than Greater, which is usually very strongly rufous-chestnut.
• Lesser has a very distinctive winter plumage (pale, streaked), which cannot be confused with Greater, but seems to be even shyer and harder to see in winter!
• Call/ Song But in most cases you do not hear them call.
I continue and I spot another coucal, and I get a picture and I can see the red eye and I know it is a Greater Coucal / นกกระปูดใหญ่. I continue and I stop to take a picture of a Great Egret.
I look out from the golf cart looking for birds and something caught my eye.
I checked with my camera and I discovered that it was the head of a Purple Heron sticking up over the vegetation. I took a picture and I moved forward very slowly to tr to get a picture without startling the bird.
Indochinese Roller / นกตะขาบทุ่ง - Last picture from Novotel
eBird Report
Novotel Chumphon Beach Resort & Golf Club, Chumphon, TH
02 Feb 2023 06:51 - 07:54
Protocol: Traveling
4.94 kilometer(s)
18 species (+2 other taxa)
Greater Coucal 2
Greater/Lesser Coucal 1 Too far away for ID
Asian Koel X
White-breasted Waterhen 7
Red-wattled Lapwing X Many making noise all over the golf course
Asian Openbill 3
Oriental Darter 1
Little Cormorant 1
Purple Heron 1
Great White Egret 1
Cattle Egret 2
pond heron sp. X Many making of them all over the golf course. Still in winter plumage so no proper ID. But they are starting to change to breeding plumage
White-throated Kingfisher 1
Black-capped Kingfisher 1
Indochinese Roller 2
Lineated Barbet 1 Heard only
Black Drongo 4
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo 1
Common Myna X
Great Myna X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
I was back at the reception at 8 o'clock and we took off towards south and new adventures. First stop will be the eBird hotspot: Walailak University in Nakhon Si Thammarat. And we will have BBQ at our friend's house when we arrive to Hat Yai in the afternoon.
We stop at 7 Eleven to buy refreshments and I find Cannabis water and I decided to try a bottle.
Well, it did not taste very good, but they say it should be very healthy. If you want to get high, let me stop you right there. There is no active substances in this drink so this is for health benefits only.
But I guess it is better than MAX. I have not had a MAX for a couple of days and my nose i not running any more. No sneezing and itchy eyes so there is definitely something I am allergic to the MAX
Going south
Buying refreshments at 7 Eleven
Refreshments coming out
We reach Walailak University and I start my eBird app at 1 o'clock. But we will be late to Hat Yai so we stay in the Walailak University area very short and we do not bother to visit the botanical garden. We leave continuing towards south.
We will pass the eBird hotspot: Thale Noi Non-hunting Area--Ekachai Bridge on the way to Hat Yai. It is a long bridge and there are many many birds. But it is not possible to stop on the bridge so I don't understand how they had been able to make it a birding hot spot.
There was a parking after having crossed the bridge and we made a stop. No birds nearby and you would need a binocular to see any birds from here. But I could see many Grey-headed Swamphens
We will be late to Hat Yai, estimated time of arrival at 6 o'clock so we decided to cancel the BBQ and to eat Japanese food instead. We made a stop at Big-C when we arrived to Hat Yai before going to the Tonaoi Grand Hotel to check-in and to meet our friend.
We arrived to the hotel 10 minutes past 6 and our friend and his wife was waiting for us. We will check-in and then take off to a Japanese restaurant and we will do the BBQ tomorrow after our temple tour. We already have a plan for tomorrow:
1) Wat Chang Hai (วัดช้างให้)
2) Wat Pha Kho (วัดพะโคะ)
3) Thale Noi (ทะเลน้อย) Bird watching
4) BBQ
Our friend is waiting for us at the hotel
Our friend is waiting for us at the hotel
Our friend is waiting for us at the hotel
Our friend is waiting for us at the hotel
My room
My room
My room
My room
We left Tonaoi Grand Hotel to go to the Hashi Japanese Restaurant 10 minutes or so away from the hotel with car. We stepped inside and we took a table. No black tea (not even Lipton) so I tried with MAX. No luck with the MAX so I tried orange juice.
I’ll be darned, no orange juice either so I asked if I could go to buy MAX at 7 Eleven. No problem so I crossed the street to buy 2 bottles of MAX.
We got our food and it was excellent food. I was drinking MAX and the Surveyor and his wife had tea. My friend had sake that he had started to like after he had it for the first time in his life last time in Lopburi.
Japanese food
Japanese food
Japanese food
Japanese food
Japanese food
Our Hat Yai friends dropped us at the hotel after dinner and the Surveyor will come to pick us up at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. So, we are looking forward to an exciting day.
+++++++++++++++
Friday 3rd of February 2023 and we go to have breakfast at 7 thirty and our friend arrived a few minutes after 8. We leave Tonaoi Grand Hotel and we stop to fill up LPG before we continue south towards Wat Chang Hai (วัดช้างให้) in Pattani. It will take us about 1 and a half hour to reach the temple in Pattani.
My friend update our friend in Lopburi with pictures via LINE.
Pattani
(Thai: ปัตตานี; Jawi: ڤطاني, 'ตานิง, Malay: Patani) is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from southeast clockwise) Narathiwat, Yala, and Songkhla. Its capital is the town of Pattani.
Military rule
As of 2018, the provisions of Thailand's Internal Security Act remain imposed on Mae Lan District. Internal security restrictions, maintained by Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command can result in curfews, prohibited entry, or prohibited transport of goods. It is considered one step below the imposition of full martial law.
2007 South Thailand bombings
The 2007 South Thailand bombings were a series of bombings that hit Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla and Yala during the Chinese New Year celebrations on 18 and 19 February. At least seven people were killed. The bombings were the first time the rebels had simultaneously struck all four southern provinces.
The attacks on Sunday and early Monday targeted mostly residential and business establishments owned by Buddhists or ethnic Chinese.
Situation
The synchronised bombings targeted hotels, karaoke bars, power grids and commercial sites. Two public schools were torched. Then head of the Thai government, junta chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin and his Interior Minister Aree Wongsearaya admitted that they knew in advance that attacks were going to take place, then failed to prevent them taking place.
In nearby Narathiwat Province, at least one person was killed and 10 were wounded in blasts at five karaoke bars in the border town of Sungai Golok. Local schools and mosques in Narathiwat were also burnt.
Over 10 bombs exploded in Yala province injuring at least 23 people in and around Yala's provincial capital, according to a witness at the main hospital. Local officials ordered Yala residents to stay home to avoid more bomb attacks during night.
In Pattani Province, police radio said Pattani's provincial capital fell dark after a bomb knocked out a power station.
We had heavy rain, rain season in south of Thailand and we checked the forecast, rain all day so we decided to skip the Wat Pha Kho (วัดพะโคะ) and the bird watching at Thale Noi (ทะเลน้อย). We can do this tomorrow if it is nice weather as we pass it on the way back to Novotel in Chumphon.
The road leading to Wat Chang Hai (วัดช้างให้) goes through a huge gate with big elephants on both sides, just next to the highway, but all the BLAH-BLAH-BLA and we missed the entrance.
It took us quite a while before we realised that we were on the wrong way and we drove back and we wondered how it was possible that we had missed the temple gate.
Morning coffee had to come out
Morning coffee had to come out
Morning coffee had to come out
We leave the highway and we drive out on the country side and we spot the temple and we park the car. We had to walk across a railway to reach the temple entrance.
My friend goes to pray to Luang Pu Tuad (หลวงปู่ทวด) and when he is ready he goes to a drum of holy water and he perform yet another ritual. So now we will be very lucky and it might be a good idea to play the lottery.
Wat Chang Hai (วัดช้างให้)
Praying to Luang Pu Tuad (หลวงปู่ทวด)
Praying to Luang Pu Tuad (หลวงปู่ทวด)
Now we will win the lottery
Well, heavy rain so no birds around so I was a little disappointed as I had been hoping to see some birds. We go to the amulet shop, I already have a lot of amulets from this temple so I was only looking. But they had idols of Luang Pu Tuad (หลวงปู่ทวด).
But they did not accept cards or money transfer and I had no cash so we left without buying any idol. Back in the car and we take off leaving Wat Chang Hai (วัดช้างให้) behind. I changed my mind after 100 meters so we decided to go to an ATM.
Our friend the driver told me he had 10000 in cash and we returned to the idol shop. But first I needed to “shot a rabbit”
Shot a rabbit (ยิงกระต่าย)
We stop at the closest gate to the shop, the idol is made out of iron and quite heavy. Me and my friend go back to the shop and they wait with the car outside the gate.
I pay for the idol and we take a few pictures before we walk back to the car.
We take more pictures when we reach the gate, running around with the idol to get pictures with different backgrounds. We get enough pictures and we leave the temple for the second time today. And this time we have a heavy Luang Pu Tuad (หลวงปู่ทวด) in the trunk.
We reach the highway and we stop to take a few pictures of the gate.
Back at the gate
Buying stuff
Buying stuff
Buying stuff
Buying stuff
We drive back to Hat Yai and we will stop to buy stuff for the BBQ. We pass Lotus's on the way to the hotel and we stop to buy groceries for the BBQ before going to the hotel to change the car. I drop my birding equipment in my room and we are ready to leave again.
Our friend lives 15 minutes or so away from the hotel by car. And we are lucky, no more rain. Our friend have bought a new guest room in the garden and there is an area under the top floor where we can to the BBQ under cover if it start to rain.
Prepare the BBQ
Prepare the BBQ
Waiting for the grill to be ready
Waiting for the grill to be ready
Waiting for the grill to be ready
Waiting for the grill to be ready
My friend is hungry and in a hurry to start
My friend is hungry and in a hurry to start
My friend is hungry and in a hurry to start
My friend is hungry and in a hurry to start
First batch is ready
First batch is ready
Time to say good bye
Time to say good bye
Time to say good bye
Time to say good bye
The BBQ tasted very good and we had a very good time. Time passed quickly and it was soon late evening and time to go back to the hotel. Our friend sent us there and we said good bye.
I will see him when I am back on Karen Mærsk in June. My friend was green on envy as I had got a few souvenirs from our friend. Well, it was more like his wife giving away the Thai amulets (พระเครื่อง) and I got one Holy cloth (ผ้ายัน) from Wat Pha Kho (วัดพะโคะ). The very same temple we should have visited today, but now we will visit tomorrow instead.
Luang Pu Tuad Yant Cloth Somdej Chao Phako Red - ผ้ายันต์หลวงปู่ทวด สมเด็จเจ้าพะโคะ สีแดง
I got on amulet from Wat Chedi (Ai Kai) - วัดเจดีย์ (ไอ้ไข่) with the Khai Dek (ไอ้ไข่เด็ก). I also got 3 amulets from Wat Khao Muang Kao (วัดเขาเมืองเก่า) Same monk, Father Than Jaroon (พ่อท่านจรูญปีพ) but it was three different amulets with different names.
Breakfast at 7 thirty tomorrow and we will leave at 8 with a stop at Thale Noi (ทะเลน้อย) for bird watching on our way to Chumphon
Khai Dek (ไอ้ไข่เด็ก)
Name of magic: Phra Pid Ta, the first generation (พระปิดตารุ่นแรก)
Name of magic: Candy (ลูกอม)
Name of magic: NaMoh's head (หัวนะโมห)
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 4th of February 2023 and my alarm goes off at 4 o'clock. I make tea enjoying the morning sorting photos and deleting the poor pictures from yesterday. We will leave at 8 o'clock so no need to hurry.
We will stop at Thale Noi (ทะเลน้อย) to look for birds on our way to Chumphon. That is the only planned stop so we have plenty time.
I started to get messages from my friend around 6, he was bored so we decided to have breakfast at 7 and leave when we were ready.
Breakfast
We leave the hotel heading north towards Thale Noi (ทะเลน้อย) and we are passing Wat Pha Kho (วัดพะโคะ). But we skip the visit to Wat Pha Kho (วัดพะโคะ), direct to the lake arriving as early as possible to Chumphon.
We manage to find the boat station at Thale Noi and the boat tour is 800 Baht and it will take around 2 and a half hours. We might cut it short trying to leave at 12 o'clock and then we expect to check in at Novotel Chumphon at 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
We get in to the boat and we are soon on hour way.
Long boat, same design for the last thousands of years. Same in Europe, they started by using logs but during the last thousands of years the design have improved. Now you can easily sit in a boat, like last time when I was bird watching in the Danube Delta, I was dry when I got out of the boat at the end of the day.
But here, the same design and you are soaking wet after a few minutes on the lake, and that is even though it was like a windmill pond. Mirror like condition but the water was spraying over us and I was not happy.
And the boat is very unstable, fer ducks’ sake, make the boat a little wider and you have a steady boat! But no, no improvements on a poor design. And the longtail is another story. If this is the best way, would we not have seen this all over the world?
We tried to explain that we were looking for birds and asked him to slow down and to keep close to shore. The driver told us that we would soon arrive to an area with birds. We approached a small forest with a narrow channel and we entered the forest.
Entering the forest
Slowly passing through the forest
We are not alone
Slowly passing through the forest
We reach the other end of the forest
Coming out from the forest and it is a huge open area and the lake is covered with some green vegetation and lotus flowers. And there were many birds hunting on top of the floating vegetation.
There are also buffaloes in the lake. There is a small “canal” through the floating vegetation and we run along this canal. But it is not easy to take pictures from the flimsy boat.
The driver stopped the boat to clear the propeller from vegetation and we spotted a Brahminy kite in a tree. Too far away for any good pictures. There was also many of the beautiful Cotton Pygmy Gooses. And I have never seen so many Grey-headed Swamphens before, they were everywhere.
We came out from the lake covered by vegetation and we ended up in a river or something like that. According to the map it is called Ban Khao. We turned left and we went north along Ban Khao. There were a lot of Grey-headed Swamphens.
We spotted a few Asian Openbill Storks flying over the area. Time turned quick and we asked the driver to take us back to the jetty.
We reached the jetty and we had cut the tour short by one hour and I could turn off my eBird app 10 minutes before 12 o'clock.
Thale Noi Boat Tour, Phatthalung, TH
04 Feb 2023 10:21 - 11:49
Protocol: Traveling
19.96 kilometer(s)
13 species (+2 other taxa)
Cotton Pygmy-Goose X Many
Asian Koel X Heard only
Grey-headed Swamphen X Many
Bronze-winged Jacana 3
Whiskered Tern X Many
Asian Openbill 3
Little Cormorant 6
Purple Heron 1
Great White Egret X Many
Intermediate Egret 2
pond heron sp. 1 Winter plumage so no proper ID
Brahminy Kite 3
Blue-tailed Bee-eater 1
bee-eater sp. 6 Too far away for proper ID
Black Drongo 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Today's track at Thale Noi (ทะเลน้อย)
Buffalo
We leave Thale Noi (ทะเลน้อย) driving towards Chumphon in the north. Next stop will be Novotel in Chumphon and we expect to arrive at 5 o'clock. We are soon on the highway and we are hauling arse towards Chumphon.
We are getting hungry but I will not eat until I reach the good restaurant at Novotel.
They have very nice salad and smoked salmon. My friends did not like the Thai food at the hotel so they stopped along the road to buy food that they will enjoy at the hotel. Of course, the food will go down while drinking whiskey.
We stop to buy food
We stop to buy food
We stop to buy food
My friend got out to buy the food and I watched from the back seat. It was some nasty things he bought and I will for sure not try any of it. The last thing he bought and I was about to throw up in the back seat.
The guy opened a divider and he brought out something that looked like a wet blanket. Turned out to be pig skin and I could see an ear. It was looking nasty!!
The salesman cut off the ear and then he chopped up the ear and put it in a plastic bag. He handed the plastic bag to my friend while I was thinking “ You are not going to bring this in to the car” Fy för satan!
We left the food wagon and after a while there was plenty stalls selling durian. We see price tags with a huge 50 Baht and that is very cheap. But this is only to lure customers, as we discovered, the 50 Baht per kilo fruit is nothing you want to buy.
Durian
The fruit of a large tree, Durio zibenthinus, which is cultivated in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, and flourishes in the Asian rain forests. It belongs to the same family as the baobab.
The large yellowish fruits up to 25 cm in diameter are coarsely spiny with a creamy inner pulp. The smell of the durian has been described as resembling bad drains with a touch of garlic, but some people find the sweet-fleshed fruit delicious.
The locals build shelters in the trees in order to collect the ripe fruits the moment they drop. This is partly because the flesh deteriorates rapidly but also because the fruit is peculiarly attractive to wild animals such as monkeys and elephants.
My friend loves Durian, as well as all other Thai people, so we stopped to have a look. The price was 100 Baht per kilo, still cheaper than in Bangkok but double up from the 50 Baht advertisement along the road.
We got out of the car; they will buy fruit and I will buy water.
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
We stop to buy durian
Knocking on the fruit to check how much fruit there is
Knocking on the fruit to check how much fruit there is
We left the durian stall and next stop was Novotel. We checked in just after 5 and I was soon in the restaurant with a pot of Earl Grey tea. Maybe tomorrow morning. We have decided to have breakfast at 8 o'clock and leave at 9 to be in Kui Buri 1 o'clock in the afternoon.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 5th of February 2023 and my alarm goes off at 4 and I turn on the kettle first thing. We leave our rooms at 8 o'clock and we go to have breakfast. I had tea and omelette for breakfast before we checked out.
We arrived to Kui Buri National Park Visitor Center (Huai Luek Unit) (หน่วยห้วยลึก อุทยานแห่งชาติกุยบุรี). We arrive 20 minutes before 1 o'clock and we discover that they don't start the safari until 2 o'clock. I was sure they opened at 13:00, but I was wrong.
Waiting for the safari
We waited for an hour and we bought the tickets. Well, only one ticket, the Thai citizens entered for free. At least if they are over 60.
My friend buy some coconuts that we enjoy while waiting and we move to the gate 20 minutes before 2 o'clock. We had a few pictures and we went to the cars. We had been the first to buy tickets so we had #1 written on the ticket.
#1 means that we will have the first car. They told us that they would not take off before 2 but we went in to the car 10 minutes before 2.
Pictures have to be taken
Pictures have to be taken
Pictures have to be taken
Pictures have to be taken
Ready to take off
Ready to take off
We take off and we do not see anything, no elephants and not even one single bird. When we approached the end we spotted some birds but not many. They were building some concrete canal in the area to have water for the animals during the dry season.
They had made a new road passing the lake where I had seen the elephants swimming first time I came here. So, this was a little exciting. I spotted a Asian Brown Flycatcher, well, I am almost sure it is a Asian Brown Flycatcher but I would not be surprised if I am wrong.
There was also two Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters in a tree far away and one White-throated Kingfisher in a tree next to the road.
We continue and 2 minutes later we spot elephants. Far away and we continue our drive to see if we can get a better view. We reached the end of the safari. The track continued but we were not allowed to drive. We parked the car and we went out.
We walked out in the scruff to see if we could spot the elephants. Our driver had notified the other drivers and we were soon a group of 15 to 20 persons looking for the elephants.
Suddenly we saw some elephants crossing, still far away. And we waited and after a few minutes there was yet another elephant. A small elephant so it must have been a young.
Elephants use this rock to scratch themself
Elephants far away
The last elephant we see before leaving
Time to go back to the gate
Time to go back to the gate
eBird Report
Kui Buri National Park Elephant Watching, Prachuap Khiri Khan, TH
05 Feb 2023 13:38 - 15:39
Protocol: Traveling
16.26 kilometer(s)
14 species (+2 other taxa)
Red Junglefowl 1
Little Grebe 1
Feral Pigeon 2
Greater/Lesser Coucal 1 Too far for ID
Asian Koel 1 Heard only
Red-wattled Lapwing 1
Great White Egret 2
Cattle Egret 3
White-throated Kingfisher 1
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater 2
bee-eater sp. 3 Too far away for proper ID
Indochinese Roller 4
Coppersmith Barbet 1 Heard only
Lineated Barbet X Heard only
Black Drongo 3
Asian Brown Flycatcher 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Today's track at Elephant Observatory Site, Kui Buri National Park
Back at the gate and we go back to the car for the last stretch going back to Bangkok. It will take us about 4 hours to reach Bangkok and it will be very nice to get back home after five days on the road.
And going back home it cannot go fast enough. Going south and it was an adventure, now, after the elephant safari we have completed all the excitements and I just want to get back home.
Going back to Bangkok
Going back to Bangkok
Going back to Bangkok
Will fly to Sweden for a couple of days next week. But there will be time for some bird watching before it is time to leave. Check it out HERE!
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!