Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Dec 2016

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• List of birds

16 Dec
Nicola’s birthday ended with a braai at friends and a comfortable sleep at a nearby guesthouse. On Friday morning we had a quick Wimpy breakfast before driving through to the airport and checking in at Singapore Airlines. We boarded on time and although the seats and surrounding space were no bigger than any other airline’s economy seats, the entertainment screen and handset looked positively futuristic. Departure was on time and very soon we enjoyed Sinaporean hospitality and pretty decent food as well. The entertainment options were ten times better than South African Airways and it definitely helped to pass the almost 10-hour flight without too much discomfort.

17 Dec
We landed at Changi airport twenty minutes early and very quickly got through customs and immigration. Unfortunately, because our next flight was on a different airline, we couldn’t be booked through all the way to Vietnam and had to go through immigration. This meant that we didn’t have access to all the nice gardens and other forms of entertainment available airside of the three different terminals. However, our Priority Passes did allow us access to a landside lounge where we enjoyed a few snacks and a very welcome shower. By the time we checked in with Vietnam Airlines, we were quite tired though and after a quick walk through the steaming butterfly garden, we tried to doze in another lounge for an hour or so. We boarded our Vietnam Airlines flight on time but got delayed several times due to rain, low visibility and landing aircraft and eventually left Singapore almost an hour late. Vietnam Airlines was certainly not in the same class as Singapore Airlines but we did unexpectedly get a meal on board which was welcome at this time. Trying to doze throughout the flight was only marginally successful and we were quite glad when the three hour flight finally came to an end at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport. Immigration officials were dressed in stark brown military dress with facial expressions to match – not the most welcoming sight for a tourist. Having read a lot about all sorts of scams being run from the airport, we were a little dubious about a very helpful lady at what appeared to be a tourist office who said we shouldn’t change money (as rates were better in town) and that she’ll arrange a taxi for us. She also said that the area our hotel is in, is blocked off on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for a street market but the taxi will drive us as close as he can get to the hotel and will then call the hotel staff to come and fetch us. Oh, and of course I had to pay up front. This all sounded suspect to me but the charge (25 USD) wasn’t outrageous and at least the lady was standing behind a counter marked tourist info. So we decided to go for it and were soon speeding towards Hanoi. Around here everything’s already built up and the most curious thing we noticed was that all the houses seemed to be three or four storey stacks with ridiculously small and narrow footprints – literally just wide enough for a window and a door! Following our progress on Google maps I was pleased to see that we were heading in the right direction and after battling through heavy scooter traffic for half an hour, we were just half a block away from the hotel. However, nothing was blocked off or inaccessible, except that the street our hotel was in was one-way and dense with scooter and foot traffic. Our driver pulled off to the side off the road and right there were two porters of our hotel waiting for us! They gave us a very warm welcome, grabbed our backpacks and marched us half a block to the Oriental Suites Hotel and Spa. Here we were greeted with another extremely warm welcome, received watermelon juice and sugar-covered lotus flower seeds to snack on while they registered us. We learned that the area does indeed get closed off (but only starting between 6 and 7pm) for the night market. Our room was perfect, situated on the 7th floor with great views over the neighbourhood, free wine and snacks, and came with a discount voucher for the spa (which unfortunately we didn’t have time to use). It was just after 6pm when we left the hotel again and

Hanoi street market

 walked into the bustle of night marketers setting up. It was one of those unforgettable experiences – thousands of things being sold, aromas of grilled pork and sausage, booming Christmas songs and honking scooters, confusions of crowds. We wandered the streets for an hour and half, buying souvenirs and street food, but by 8pm we were dead on our feet and it was time for bed. Back at the hotel I couldn’t even remember putting my head on the pillow – we were both out cold and the next thing we knew, the alarm went off for our 6am wake-up.

18 Dec
Today we embarked on a five-day guided trip to Cuc Phuong National Park for some forest birding with Vietnam Birding. After eating breakfast at the hotel restaurant (situated on a glass floor above a koi pond), we packed our bags and went downstairs waiting for our driver. The hotel staff greeted us warmly, and gave us a present of coffee beans and a small coffee pot to brew them in, ran out to change money for us and offered us a 50% discount on a taxi ride back to the airport, even though we would not be staying at that hotel the night before we left Vietnam! Their extreme courtesy made that hotel in danger of surpassing Iceland for best service – superb! Our driver arrived and handed us a bag with caps for our birding trip, and drove us the three hours to Cuc Phuong. He spoke no English however (apart from saying sorry when the cops pulled us over) so we very quickly tired of staring out the car window especially since we couldn’t learn tit-bits about Vietnamese life. So we spent most of the drive catching up on some more sleep after the long journey in. We arrived at the park, met our guide, Tran Bay, and were shown to our room – a very pleasant newly built set of bungalows. We had a few minutes rest and then went to the park restaurant for lunch. The restaurant was very basic with what we presumed to be the menu scribbled on a white board – all in Vietnamese. The staff had a smattering of English, enough that we learnt there was a set menu, so we happily ordered that and ignored the white board. Lunch consisted of a big bowl of rice, braised cabbage and some kind of beef curry, and small vegetable spring rolls. Although the meat was tough it was a pleasant meal and the spring rolls were to die for. After lunch we met up with our guide for a walk through the forest. He seemed pretty knowledgeable about his birds, however his heavily accented English left us

Secondary forest in Cuc Phuong National Park

guessing quite a lot of the time! The birds were often far back in the dark forest canopy, so we struggled to get good views, but we did see several birds – Chestnut, Black-crested and Sooty-capped bulbuls, Pin-striped tit-babbler, the stunning Maroon oriole and an Ashy drongo chased us down the first section of the walk. An Asian barred owlet called repeatedly but unfortunately never showed himself. Vietnam in winter is covered in cloud and fog most of the time so we struggled to see birds in the dark forest sections, but when we did see a small bird sitting out in the open on a dead tree, we were ecstatic to confirm it as a stunning Pied falconet - one of Cuc Phuong's specialities. We attempted some photographs but he was quite far off so our best views were through Bay's scope. When the forest walk came to an end we walked back to our bungalow through the hotel grounds, and stopped off at their aviaries filled with local bird life that they are researching/breeding for release back into the wild. At one part along the walk, Bay led us into the forest, walked a few meters ahead of us, and put down some grubs he’d been carrying with him. He then came back to us and played a bird call, and very excitedly pointed out a Blue-rumped pitta coming to eat! We very eagerly stared at him through our binos, but it was so dark we only saw a dark blob wandering around the leaf litter. He left very soon thereafter and refused to come back even when we put out more food. But the spot was only a 100m or so from our bungalow, so we hoped we would get a better view on the days to come. But our first sighting of a pitta is still way worth it so we went to dinner happy. Shortly afterwards we climbed into bed and dreamt of seeing cloudy leopards in the morning…

19 Dec
A restless night left us feeling a little drowsy still when the alarm went off, but the raucous calls of White-cheeked gibbons helped to keep our eyes peeled. Bay met us at 06:30. From the headquarters we took a drive for about 20kms to the other side of the park, stopping several times along the way to walk and bird. We picked up Ratchet-tailed treepie, Rufescent prinia, Pin-striped tit-babbler, Rufous woodpecker, a couple of very aggressive Sultan tits, Scarlet minivets, Black-winged cuckooshrike, Stripe-throated bulbul and Japanese thrush. Although the birds were difficult to locate there was lots of forest to cover and our tummies started rumbling as the time dragged on. Just before 9am we spotted our last new bird for the walk – a Crested serpent-eagle – before walking in to the station complex at the other side of the park where we sat down for breakfast. It was simple and very Vietnamese – a bowl of steaming noodles and greens in a clear broth with an egg poached in the broth. It was quite palatable but we discovered eating a poached egg with chopsticks is not the easiest thing in the world! After breakfast we took a walk up towards a limestone cave system hoping to find Limestone warbler and Bar-bellied pitta. We dipped on the warbler but higher up the hill we heard Bar-bellied pitta calling quite close to the main trail so we stepped off into the forest, took a seat and scanned carefully as Bay played the call. The answering call came closer and every now and then we heard a slight flutter. Then suddenly, about ten minutes after we sat down, the pitta hopped into sight, stood still for about two seconds, and was gone. But it was enough and we both got great views of our second pitta! Mission accomplished we walked back down and took another route looking for the Limestone warbler. Again we didn’t see or hear a peep from this bird but did get good views of

Fujian niltava

Fujian niltava, Rufous-throated fulvetta and White-bellied erpornis (yuhina). We reached the park complex again just after 1pm and sat down for lunch of rice, greens and chicken – reasonably tasty but starting to get a bit boring now. We had a decent rest before walking back the way we came towards the park headquarters. Birding was slow and although we got nice views of birds we saw earlier in the day, we didn’t add anything new. Eventually our driver picked us up and we made up some distance until reaching just short of the park headquarters. Here we got out and walked 20m into the forest to try again for Blue-rumped pitta that we saw yesterday but couldn't really identify in the gloom. Bay dropped some worms again in a clearing and played the call but all that came was a very cooperative White-rumped shama. Twenty minutes later we gave up, walked through the park complex and tried again at another spot. We sat dead still and barely blinked as a Green-billed malkoha made his way past us through the canopy. After more than fifteen minutes of absolute silence, a dark shape finally appeared in the late afternoon forest gloom. It skirted the

Blue-rumped pitta

clearing several times but eventually it hopped onto the stump where Bay had placed some more worms. What a beauty! Blue-rumped pitta in all its glory! It stood and ate all the worms available so stayed long enough for Nicola to catch a few photos. Brilliant! With two pittas in the bag and the day drawing to a close, it was time for some dinner and rest and we happily said goodbye to Bay for the night.

20 Dec
The next day we got up early again but this time had breakfast at the lodge – a fresh baguette each with butter and an omelette, very western food but a welcome break from rice! We started the day driving into the park again, with short walks along the way. One of the walks produced a White-throated fantail, a pretty bird but only 

Misty mornings are the norm in winter in Vietnam

glimpsing views and it never sits still. Further along the drive we stopped off at another limestone cave to look for Limestone wren-babbler and Limestone warbler. We called and called but the wren-babbler remained hidden. However the warbler responded to the call and danced above us in the canopy. Not great views as it is always difficult looking at a bird silhouetted against the sky 20m above you. We then headed back to the part of the forest where we had found the Bar-bellied pitta the day before, but we took another path hoping for the limestone wren-babbler. Poor Bay had partied the previous night with some friends and a healthy dose of rice wine and was not in a good state - he kept running into the forest every 15-20 minutes. Consequently we quite often wandered on our own down the trail. We were now in excellent primary forest with a very dense canopy and we frequently had only frustrating glimpses of things flying over and out of sight. We did pick up a few new birds like the Fork-tailed sunbird and Red-vented barbet before reaching the 3km point of the trail. Here we turned around and shortly after heading back Bay heard the Limestone wren-babbler calling. We thrashed through the undergrowth to get closer, and eventually I managed to see the bird but Nicola only got distant views before it moved off. Disappointed at the poor views we continued the walk back and had lunch at the park station – another bowl of rice and chicken.

Butterflies of Cuc Phuong

After lunch Nicola wandered around taking photos of the stunning butterflies, and then we took a drive back to the cave. Ont he boardwalk towards the cave we saw a beautiful little Grey-capped pygmy woodpecker. Near the cave entrance we tried calling the wren-babblers again but no luck and decided to see what the cave was like. Just as we were about to dip inside, Bay heard the

Limestone wren-babblers

wren-babblers, so we went scrambling down the limestone stairway and finally got great views of several birds. We tried snapping some pics but the dim light made it very tough, so we had to content ourselves with the views. Back towards the main park station, we got out just short of the complex for another walk, circling around the back of the old lodge. A last lifer for the day popped up into the trees – Olive-backed pipit. We decided to call that our last bird for the day, and after an early supper we climbed into bed.


21 Dec
This morning started the same with a freshly baked bread and omelet for breakfast but this morning we opted for coffee – it comes with condensed milk and is a good deal better than black tea without sugar. As the two previous mornings we took a walk/drive along the 20km stretch to the sub-station on the other side of the park. But today we bagged our first water bird for the trip – a perching Common kingfisher. Further down the road a pair of Large scimitar-babblers gave us the run-around and although we occasionally saw movement in the very dense roadside vegetation, we never laid eyes on either of them. Around 09:30 we reached the sub-station and took a hilly trail leading up a limestone ridge. The clouds had begun to clear and the day was definitely warming up. The slopy understory here was good for Eared pitta but despite numerous stops and calls, there was no peep from this scarce bird. Close to the ridge’s summit we added Great iora, Streaked spiderhunter and Arctic warbler but nothing of great significance. Only when we reached a massive fenced-off tree, a

Forest giant

60m tall, thousand year old forest giant, did we catch a brief but decent view of a magnificent Red-headed trogon. It was almost 1pm when we got back to the sub-station - just in time to quiet our rumbling tummies with spring rolls and the obligatory rice and spinach. But we also gave in to temptation and downed a Coke each. After a short rest we started on our way back to the main complex, stopping along the road several times for some birding. At one of the other ponds along the road we added our second water bird – a White-throated kingfisher this time. Back at the main camp complex there was just enough time to pay a quick visit to the Endangered Primate Conservation Centre and the Turtle Conservation Centre. We were quite surprised at the extensive grounds of both centres and impressed by the diligence and effort they go to, to breed, rehabilitate and eventually release back into the wild the endemic langurs, gibbons, turtles and tortoises. Our last new bird for the day was a cheeky Orange-headed thrush that flew into one of the turtle cages to steal food – Bay had only seen one once before so this was a good one to get. Dinner was the by now standard fare of rice, steamed spinach, boiled beef and potato and crispy spring rolls.

22 Dec
Our last morning started with an early breakfast and then an hour long drive to Van Long Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Ninh Binh. This is a wetland with a few karst hills forming one of the

Van Long Nature Reserve

Iconic Vietnam

Fisherladies in their sampans

shorelines and the only place in the world to see Delacour’s langurs in the wild. There were a few water birds around and we picked off Great and Intermediate egrets, Purple heron, Pheasant-tailed jacana, Black-backed swamphen, White-browed crake, Common and White-throated kingfishers, Yellow-bellied prinia and Little grebe. A fisherlady rowed us on her sampan into the wetlands and along the karst hill shoreline, it wasn’t long before we spotted a number of Delacour’s langurs. It was

Delacour's langur

Siberian (Eastern) stonechat

quite a privilege to see these rare primates and as we started on our way back we were lucky to add a Plaintive cuckoo to our birding list as well. Although it was quite warm when we started out, heavier clouds had moved in while we were on the sampan and on the way back it started raining. It wasn’t very heavy but there wasn’t much else to see or do at the wetlands so we got back in the car and left. Sedona Hotel and Suites (formerly known as Diamond West Lake hotel and Suites) is a really fancy hotel and apartment complex, and in addition to all the usual hotel amenities and services, also has a small shop selling food and other basics, squash and badminton courts as well as a spa and pool. Our apartment was positively plush with a full comfortable lounge with large satellite TV, a full kitchen, king-size bed and a few free snacks to boot. Since the snacks would serve us perfectly for lunch we decided to camp out in the luxury and after cleaning up, had a very comfortable afternoon. For dinner we pigged out at the hotel’s restaurant and sat with our feet up in front of the TV afterwards.

Rain over Van Long

In Ninh Binh we said goodbye to Bay and settled in for the two-hour drive to Hanoi. Our driver negotiated the traffic well but had a little trouble finding the right street for our hotel. When we finally pulled up to it though, we felt very out-of-place in our sweaty clothes and backpacks on our back.

23 Dec
Today was a big day – I’ve dreamed of seeing Ha Long bay for a very long time and have spent a lot of time and money to plan a visit and cruise to this World Heritage Site. After a pretty decent breakfast we packed our bags and waited in the hotel lobby for a driver to pick up the luggage. We were going to take a very special mode of transport to Ha Long bay and couldn’t take more than 7kg hand luggage with us. The driver came on time and then we spent another hour or so watching TV before a second driver came to take us to the airport. Nicola didn’t know it yet, but I had booked us a flight to Ha Long bay in a proper seaplane, and the flight included some 15 minutes of flight time around the islands. This was Nicola’s birthday present so I had held out telling her for over four months so when we got dropped off at the airport, she was utterly confused (thinking we were taking a bus down to the bay)! But now the cat was out of the bag and it was time to enjoy a unique mode of transport. After checking in for our flight we browsed the curio shops for 10 minutes before we were ushered onto a bus. The bus parked next to the sea plane and we were greeted by the pilot who was wearing loafers and shorts and sporting a pair of sunglasses – it felt very Caribbean. After a short safety briefing we climbed aboard and took off. We flew over Hanoi and the Red river delta for forty minutes, and then finally came upon the bay. Seeing pictures does not prepare you for the sight of

Ha Long bay from the air

thousands of islands in an enormous bay. From down below you can only capture a tiny portion of the bay so seeing it from the air gives you a real appreciation for the scale of this wonder. We stared in awe and snapped as many photo’s as we could before the plane came down for the landing. It felt absurd seeing the sea come closer and closer knowing you’re about to land on liquid! The landing itself was amazingly smooth - you only knew you were down by the spray spreading out behind you. After a few hundred meters we slowed and the pilot steered us around the corner and headed to the docks. We were expecting to dock like a boat and then have to step off the floating plane onto a pier, but the pilot instead lowered the landing gear into the water, headed for a boat ramp and just drove

In Vietnam, scooters are used for anything and everything

right on up! It was a truly special flight! A shuttle then picked us up and drove us to the cruise company that would take us around the bay for the next few days. Unfortunately there was a major traffic accident between Hanoi and Hai Phong (where we were now) which delayed the driver bringing our luggage by almost two hours, so we only boarded the boat at around 1pm. But we didn't really care. We paid a bit extra for this cruise with Legend Halong (part of Bhaya Cruises) and we had the entire boat to ourselves!

Inside our private boat on Legend Halong - our dinner table (top) and bedroom (bottom)

After a quick tour around our boat, we sat down to our first meal. We very quickly discovered that they planned to fatten us up as they served five courses, each of which could easily have served just fine as a main meal! After soup, starter and salad, we ate a rather limited portion of our mains, and barely tasted desert. With stuffed tummies we sat on the comfy deck chairs and watched the islands go by while we tried valiantly not to fill the camera’s memory card on the first day.

 

 

After a few hours of sailing we stopped at a mini man-made floating home where we rented a kayak and went kayaking around the islands. We soon discovered tunnels under some islands that we could navigate and "discovered" secret quiet coves in the center of the islands, some of which could only be reached by sea when the tide was low and the tunnels opened.

After returning to the boat we cruised around a few islands to reach a floating fish and oyster farm. This was fascinating - they showed us how the oysters are carefully seeded and then tied into nets before setting them down in the sea for anything from one to five years. A lady explaining the whole setup opened up an oyster and popped out a beautiful round pearl for us to see. Wow! Of course they also had a large floating shop where you could buy pearls of all shapes, sizes, quality and price - there was a necklace going for USD 10,000! There were some pearls that were affordable but these were obviously of lower quality, not perfectly round and/or had blemishes - we felt it wasn't worth buying a poor quality pearl product and just simply couldn't afford the nice ones, and left empty handed. .

Oyster farm

Fresh pearl, straight from an oyster

Back on board our boat, another five-course meal followed, finished by a cake made especially for Nicola's birthday. We then spent a few hours trying our hand at catching squid and amazed ourselves and the crew by catching four squid! After receiving promises that we would get to eat our squid the next day we headed to bed

Nicola's birthday cake

Nicola's squid

24 Dec
On Christmas eve we had a late lie in and breakfast before sailing to an island with a large terrestrial cave called Surprise cave. We wondered through chamber after chamber looking at the stalactites and stalagmites. The Vietnamese had gone a bit overboard with neon lighting of the cave and the

Breakfast view over Ha Long bay

Sheltered bay from the entrance to Surprise cave

Surprise cave

constant hordes of people meant the cave had not stayed the pristine white of freshly deposited limestone. But it was still a lovely cave. On our way back to the boat we discovered the islands were not completely void of bird life as we came across a pair of Grey tits. The day before we had seen a few Pacific reef herons, and the odd Blue whistling thrush, but we were otherwise surprised that the hundreds of islands were oddly silent. We would have thought the rocky outcrops would be crawling with birds looking for undisturbed nesting sites. Late morning we sailed towards a secluded patch of sea In Lan Ha bay - a bit further south of Ha Long - and had lunch. We had to wait for the tide to go out to access some more sea tunnels with the kayaks so had a lazy few hours on the boat. At 2pm we jumped into a pair of kayaks again and followed our guide into a dark tunnel that only became accessible with low tide. It was really cool although a bit unsettling to kayak into the dark, every now and then banging a paddle against the roof! Unfortunately a thick mist was setting in so we could not

 

kayak as long as we had planned. After a quick sojourn out to open sea between the islands where the swell became more noticeable, we turned around and went back to the boat. Apparently navigation around the islands occur on sight, rather than radar, so with the mist thickening, our captain hastened to return to the night’s anchorage. After dropping anchor, the boat’s small outboard was commissioned to fetch a masseuse for Nicola – another birthday present. While Nicola got massaged in the bedroom, I busied myself with the fishing rods and caught another three squid before the massage ended and we had dinner. The chef prepared some of our catch in a soup for dinner but unfortunately it was a little overdone and rubbery. Feeling relaxed and overfed, we went to bed for our last night at sea.

25 Dec
There was still thick fog around the islands as I sipped a strong coffee with my feet up. During breakfast, the anchor was lifted and we started back to Hai Phong, arriving just after 10am. We joined another two couples in a transit van back to Hanoi but our overly cautious driver made heavy work of the 3-hour drive and only dropped us off at our hotel after 4pm. At only about R400 for the night, this was our cheapest hotel for the trip and I was slightly worried about what we were going to get. It was indeed not nearly as good as the other two hotels we stayed at in Hanoi, but it was clean and spacious and the home-cooked dinner pretty darn good. With a 9am flight the next morning, it was off to bed early.

26 Dec
Our AirAsia flight to Bangkok was right on time and for a no-frills airline, not too bad. The climate in Bangkok was vastly different to Vietnam though. Thankfully it was not as humid as it gets in summer but despite it being “winter” in this part of Thailand, the mercury was still on the wrong side of 35 degrees C – the taxi’s air-conditioner was most welcome. As we approached our hotel near the city center we had our first encounter with Bangkok traffic. Thailand doesn’t have remotely the large numbers of scooters that Vietnam does, but economic freedom and prosperity over the last decade or two has resulted in a large number of private cars and despite 4-lane highways and one-way systems in place, we were stationary several times for quite a while. But we made it to the Ibis hotel right next to the MBK centre without any issues and got checked in by noon. For lunch we headed into the MBK centre – six levels of shopping mall crammed with thousands of small shops selling clothes, food, electronics, souvenirs and just about everything else you can think of. It was a shopper’s paradise and we spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon here to eat and browse. Dinner was bought from a street market outside the mall but with a planned 4am start tomorrow, we couldn’t linger too long.

27 Dec
The alarm went off at 4am and when we went downstairs at 04:25, our driver for the day’s birding was already waiting for us. We were to spend the next two days birding with guides from Wild Bird Eco Tours. We had quickly caught onto the Thai way of greeting – hand palms flush against each other as in prayer below the chin and a strong nod – and in some way it was very comforting to be greeted this way by everyone. Our driver did not speak much English but was extremely courteous – he drove the empty streets of Bangkok for about 40 minutes to a spot where we picked up our guide for the day – Mr Tii. Another hour or so later, we arrived at the famous Pak Thale bird sanctuary on the Petchaburi coast. Extensive salt works in this area, stretching for thousands of hectares, make for some of the best wader habitat in the world and our mission today was to find two of the planet’s rarest and most sought-after waders – Spoon-billed sandpiper and Nordmann’s greenshank.

Sunrise over Pak Thale

When we parked the car it was still almost pitch black dark but it was already about 27 or 28 degrees and only the sea breeze made the temperature bearable. As it started lightening up in the east, we started birding slowly. We heard lots of birds but could barely make out shapes on the flat salt pans. Around 06:30 though the sun finally rose and birding started in earnest. Nicola was the first to pick up a lifer – Lesser sand plover – but our fourth bird for the day was Broad-billed sandpiper – lifer for both of us. And then, a mere fifteen minutes after starting to bird properly, Mr Tii shouted, Spoon-billed sandpiper! He put the scope onto a group of birds that were actively feeding but it was near impossible for him to describe which birds to look at. In the scope view we had about 30 waders actively walking around and there were quite a few Broad-billed sandpipers and Kentish plovers around so we had to carefully watch each bird as it turned its head for the characteristic spoon-bill.

Spoon-billed sandpiper - bottom right, facing away - look for the spoon-shaped bill

 But we had to walk closer three times and set the scope up three times before we finally caught onto the bird and then had some amazing views of this very unique wader. We even managed a few pictures before discovering a second individual. We were to see another four individuals before the day ended! With the biggest target in the bag, we racked up more lifers: Long-toed and Red-necked stints, Brown-headed gull and Great knot. Just after 8am we left for another set of salt pans and here picked up Common and Wood sandpipers, Common ringed plover, White-winged tern, Black- and Bar-tailed godwits as well as Ruff before Mr Tii finally spotted our second big target in the very far distance.

Black-tailed godwit (top), Red knot (middle) and Pacific golden plover (bottom)

It was only his skilled eyes that could make out the important features of a small group of Nordmann’s greenshanks – to us they just looked like very far-off waders and we couldn’t even say for sure that they were greenshanks. We spent the next fifteen minutes slowly advancing 20-30 meters at a time until finally, about 50m away from the birds we could clearly make out the two-tone bill and get a few pictures as proof. With a Common greenshank nearby as well, it was easy to compare the subtle differences between the two species.

Nordmann's greenshanks (top). Thousands of waders congregating at Pak Thale (bottom)

We now had our two big birds ticked before 10am and for the rest of the day we drove around some more salt pans, rice paddies and wetlands and when we finished at 16:30, we had also seen Edible-nest swiftlet, Malaysian pied fantail, Indian cormorant, Asian dowitcher, Bronze-winged jacana, Baya weaver, Nutmeg mannikin, Streak-eared bulbul, Grey-headed lapwing, Asian golden weaver and Ashy woodswallow – all lifers!

Yellow-bellied prinia (top), Black-capped kingfisher (bottom)

We ended the day with 96 species of which a whopping 32 were waders and another 32 were also water birds. Nicola had bagged 22 lifers and I got 18. It was easily one of the best birding days we’ve ever had! Our drive back to Bangkok took two and a half hours and we were stuck in traffic for over an hour. Arriving in Bangkok CBD just before 7pm, we were quite hungry so as we sat waiting for the traffic within walking distance from our hotel, we decided to walk, said goodnight to our driver and jumped out of the car, stopping at the street market for some quick eats. A cold shower did wonders for our tired bodies and with another 4am start planned for tomorrow, we were in bed and asleep shortly after 8pm.

28 Dec
Up again at 4am, we met our guide and general manager of Wild Bird Eco Tours, Panuwat Sasirat – Par for short. It was a long drive to Kaeng Krachan National Park, the largest in Thailand, located in the Tenasserim mountains on the Myanmar border. We arrived at 7am to the sounds of bird calls and Dusky langurs and stepped into cool mountain air. We were only about 500m above sea level at the main park complex but it made a huge difference to the climate. While Par and the driver had a quick breakfast we took photos of the Dusky langurs playing in a huge tree.

Dusky langurs at Kaeng Krachan National Park

 When we started birding, we added a number of birds in quick succession and had three lifers on board within fifteen minutes: Verditer flycatcher, Blue-eared barbet, Grey-rumped treeswift. We first concentrated around the main park complex and camp ground as it was much more open and the birds easier to spot. Par was superb and picked out new birds left, right and centre. Other new birds were Asian brown flycatcher, Blue-winged leafbird, Asian fairy-bluebird, Indochinese cuckooshrike, Yellow-vented flowerpecker, Oriental pied hornbill, a stunning Scarlet-backed flowerpecker and a cracker Taiga flycatcher.

Scarlet-backed flowerpecker

 We started up the dirt road going to a high viewpoint. After adding a Hainan blue flycatcher and Two-barred warbler, a loud, crass call located us a pair of Great hornbills. We glimpsed these massive birds as they flew across the valley but we only saw them properly some time later. Getting a bit into deeper forest we added some more great birds: Dark-sided flycatcher, Black-headed bulbul, Ochraceous bulbul, Square-tailed drongo-cuckoo, Rufous-fronted babbler and a spectacular Orange-breasted trogon. It was now noon and time for lunch back at the main park complex. Par ordered us soup, rice, vegetables and chicken and tucked into a delicious meal that was again way too much for us. A Dutch family, recent friends of Par’s, showed up and we chatted some before leaving the complex again – we were to meet them at several spots again throughout the afternoon as the husband was obviously also very interested in birds and wildlife.

Greater flameback (male)

Back in the forest, we heard clear calls from Green-legged partridge but despite callback from Par, these shy birds never showed themselves. Another group of birders were also birding the road and their guide found a nest of a Greater flameback. We watched for about ten minutes as both the male and female poked in and out of the hole in a dead tree. At a clearing near a small dammed section of a stream, Par played the call of a Blue pitta and almost immediately got a response. It was quite high up on the slopes though so we settled in on the verge of the road as Par tried to lure it closer with some careful playback. Earlier in the morning, a great number of vehicles had started to come down from the viewpoint after an early-morning departure, and now there were some more coming down in noisy 4x4s. This made trying to hear and see a pitta right next to the road quite difficult. But finally, after about half an hour’s patience, we finally got some shaded views of the Blue pitta sitting on a branch. Relieved to have finally seen it, we started slowly heading back to try and locate some other special birds. The other birding group’s guide informed Par of a Brown hawk-owl (Brown boobook) they had seen earlier and after some intricate directions were passed, we drove a short distance and then walked a faint track into the forest. We reached the apparent spot where the owl was and Par pointed to some droppings on the ground – telltale signs of a bird sitting upstairs in the same spot. Try as we might though, we couldn’t see a thing, but just five minutes later, the other bird guide showed up and guided us to a spot where we suddenly had fantastic views of this pretty owl. Back on the road, we birded several locations that are good for broadbills. It took a while but Par managed to call in a Black-and-yellow broadbill that gave excellent views.

Giant black squirrel (top) and one of many beautiful butterflies at Kaeng Krachan (bottom)

It was now late afternoon and we birded slowly on our way out. Several tries for Black-thighed falconet were unsuccessful but at another park entrance on the shore of Kaeng Krachan lake we located a calling Asian barred owlet just as the sun set over the Tenasserims.

Asian barred owlet

 It was time to head home. Partly because we arrived on the outskirts of Bangkok much later than yesterday, the traffic was not bad at all and we got back home before 9pm. We were exhausted and didn’t feel like walking to the street market so just grabbed a couple of sandwiches from the 7Eleven in the hotel lobby. What a fantastic day’s birding! We ticked 58 species, which, considering its non-breeding season, is absolutely brilliant for forest birding. Twenty four of these were lifers for both of us with Nicola adding a further two as well. As a comparison, it took us three and a half days in Vietnam to see a total of 67 forest species! A huge thank-you to Par and his team at Wild Bird Eco Tours - I recommend them highly and would surely make use of them again when we have another chance to visit Thailand.

29 Dec
This was our last full day in Thailand and we knew exactly what we were going to do. Firstly we slept late. Secondly we arranged for a late check-out at the hotel and then went shopping. Our third priority for today was to get a Thai massage and when we discovered a shop in the MBK centre doing just that, we thought it a good time to "relax". Initially appearing disinterested, we managed to get an hour’s Thai full body massage for just R360 for the both of us! I’ll admit that I’m not used to getting massages (at least, not from strangers) so it wasn’t easy to take off all but my underwear and then stand still while Thai ladies tie a sort of pants-robe around you. They started with our legs and very soon I was on the edge of screaming as they used their full body weight combined with painfully sharp elbows, fists and heels to knead out muscle knots. They also manipulated our joints into funny positions and used their feet and full body length to stretch us out. Despite the moments of pain and terror, I must admit that it was overall very pleasant and relaxing. Having browsed most of the shops on our first afternoon here, we knew exactly what we wanted to buy so it didn’t take us long to find some good deals. Back at the hotel by noon, we packed up, cooled down in the shower and then checked out at 13:30, leaving our bags with the concierge. For lunch we went back to the MBK centre. The restaurant we chose had a large variety of food from three different menus but I chose some sushi from the Japanese menu and then we both had Thai mains. Oh deary me. I specifically asked the waiter to go easy on the chilli and I’m sure he understood me so I’d hate to know what the hot stuff’s like – this meal nearly blew our heads off. Starting with the sushi, I added some wasabi to my first bite. I’m used to the wasabi we get back in South Africa that kind of tastes like nothing. This was a whole different ballgame. The moment it was in my mouth, there was this tremendous wave of burn going straight up my sinuses and had me gasping for air and feeling dizzy. Nicola was about to have some as well and I warned her to stay away. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t listen, and very soon was coughing and gasping as well. With our sinuses properly cleared we dug into the seafood stew we ordered. There were some strange looking greens in it. It looked like tiny green pearls attached to a central stalk and I first thought it was seaweed of some kind. But a first bite confirmed it was severely hot and to be honest, I have no idea what the rest of my meal tasted like. We picked out the green pearly bits and anything else that looked like it belonged to the chilli family and managed to finish most of the food but I spent more time wiping sweat, snot and tears than anything else. We left the restaurant with numbed mouths and did a last bit of shopping before going back to the hotel to catch a taxi to a hotel near the airport. It turned out that the Amari Don Mueang is right at the airport and we literally just had to take a ride up an escalator from the reception desk to access the airport! It’s actually a really nice hotel and the rooms are very spacious. The restaurant is a bit on the expensive side but not bad if you keep in mind it’s in a hotel. We spent the afternoon relaxing and Nicola performed some magic to neatly get all our souvenirs packed.

30 Dec
With an 11am flight, there was plenty time to sleep late and have a decent breakfast. We had to buy another small backpack to fit all the stuff we’ve bought. It’s therefore a good thing the airport access was just up the escalator. We checked into our AirAsia flight and then discovered to our annoyance that the international terminal doesn’t have a single lounge but the domestic terminal does – this made no sense to us but there we were so we spent some time walking around the few souvenir shops and changed our last Thai Baht to Singapore Dollars. Our flight departed a little late but made up some time in the air and we landed in Singapore just fifteen minutes late. Having initially planned to buy an MRT 3-day pass for access to the underground and bus system in Singapore, we decided to rather use a taxi to get into town due to the extra luggage we were hoarding. Singapore was hot and humid but the drive into the CBD was quiet and comfortable and cost us just under 20 SGD (about R200). Hotel Bencoolen on Hong Kong street upgraded us to a double-storey room but it was still a surprisingly cramped space. But we weren’t planning on spending a lot of time there so it wasn’t really a problem. We soon left to explore the city. After a quick snack in a huge mall, we found the Chinese mall, got a cheap local SIM data card and then explored yet another mall before buying some sandwiches at a Subway for dinner.

31 Dec
31 December was going to be a looong day. Breakfast was only available from 8am but we made quick work of this and then caught an Uber drive to the Upper Seletar Reservoir where we were to spend the entire day. Yesterday we bought tickets online that would allow us access to four of Singapore’s most famous attractions: Singapore Zoo, River safari, Night safari and Jurong Bird Park. The first three were all located at the Upper Seletar Reservoir so the choice of where to start wasn’t difficult. We arrived shortly after the zoo opened and proceeded to make our way through the maze of exciting things to see. The zoo is truly magnificent and have gone to enormous effort and expense to make the “cages” and surrounds as animal-friendly as a zoo could possibly be. In most cases the areas were spacious with lots of suitable habitat, play areas, nests, hideaways, logs, poles etc. Some areas had moats that were cleverly disguised with plants so that it looked like the animals were roaming free.

White tiger (top) and Mouse deer (bottom)

There was a section where orangutans were seemingly allowed to freely swing over and above the human pathways and it was only when we paid close attention to the trees around us that we noted electrified “fencing” around the tree bases that were outside the orangutans cages so that they could not actually climb down to where humans were walking. In area, the zoo is not actually that big (smaller than the Pretoria zoo) and they don’t have huge numbers of animals in a single cage and have also not tried to cram a huge number of species into the zoo. They have a few specialized themes (like Ethiopian rift valley, Australia, Primate kingdom, Cat Country, Wild Africa) and then had selected animals to represent these areas. Throughout the day we visited each and every section and focused our time on animals we haven’t seen before: babirusa, pygmy hippo, mandril baboons, polar bear, white tiger, proboscis monkey and Asian sunbear.

In some cases you can get close enough to the animals to touch them (top) and in some places you can walk into the cages. Douc langurs must be some of the most handsome primates around (bottom).

 We ate a late lunch at the zoo’s restaurant, finished up the last few animals we missed and then walked across to the River Safari. Here we were amazed by some weird and wonderful creatures we’ve never seen before: Mississippi paddlefish, alligator snapping turtle, giant puffer fish, goonch catfish, freshwater stingray and Mekong giant catfish. Before taking a short cruise on the Reservoir, we walked into a massive air-conditioned structure where they housed the icon of world environmental conservation – two giant pandas. What absolutely beautiful creatures! They also had the much smaller red panda that looks more like a raccoon than a bear and we spent a significant amount of time here.

Giant panda (top), Red panda (bottom)

The cruise on the Reservoir was a bit over-rated in our opinion but the second half of the River Safari was as good as the first. After the boat cruise we did a 10-minute long themed ride in a “boat”. This is much like the big theme park rides where you’re in a water channel and move along with the current with constant commentary and what you’re looking at. It was, to be honest, a little contrived but still good fun. Through the last section of the River Safari we saw silver arowamas (huge fresh water fish) green anacondas and electric eels before finishing at a massive aquarium to view two of the highlights I was looking forward to: the massive arapaimas (fresh water fish from the Amazon) together with manatees. We made it just in time for a feeding session and watched the show in awe, wondering what it would be like to swim among these gentle giants.

Manatee

We exited the River Safari just after 6pm and walked across to the Night Safari. Our tickets allowed us in only at 20:15 so we took our time to eat dinner at a restaurant. Some fire dancers entertained while hundreds of us were waiting. As the Night Safari allows limited numbers of people and it’s hugely popular, the queues are quite long. But eventually we managed to get in, just to wait in another queue for the tram ride through the park. The queue was admittedly managed quite well and moved fast until we also got seats at the front of a tram. The idea of the Night Safari is that the tram slowly drives through and past cages where nocturnal animals can be seen with some low-level lighting in place. The best part is that for some non-dangerous animals you get to ride straight through the “cages” that have cattle grids on either side – as close to a natural park as a zoo can get. For obvious reasons you’re not allowed out of the tram and no flash photography is allowed either. It was nearing 9pm when we finished the tram ride and we still wanted to get to Clarke Quay for New Year’s fireworks so we spent the next hour or so trying to see as many of the nocturnal animals as we could. We managed to see binturong, pangolin, porcupine, leopard, golden cat, hog badger, sugar glider, brush-tailed possum and Asian otters but probably the most magnificent of all the creatures was the clouded leopard. We exited Night Safari just after 10pm and got an Uber drive back to the hotel. We were planning to start walking down to Clarke Quay at about 23:30 but when the fireworks started going off at 23:00, we took the camera and left. Our hopes to get to Merlion were quickly dashed though. Clarke Quay was already packed with tens of  thousands of people and the bridge to the Merlion has long since been closed off as the whole esplanade was full. So we decided to make our way to the edge of the river but soon got stuck in a massive crowd that didn’t move an inch and with so many people wanting to see the show that it started becoming a little dangerous with everyone shoving and pushing and some girls near us starting to scream and becoming panicky. We had to get out of the crowd so when a couple of people near us managed to climb over a barricade into the park next to the shoreline, we did the same and managed to find a much more open sitting space on the grass. It was admittedly a bit obscured by some large trees but neither of us fancied being stuck in the crowds. It was now just ten minutes to midnight and more and more people started to step into the park so that we eventually had to stand up as well to see anything. And then suddenly it started! A few small yellow rockets going up in front of the esplanade followed by green, blue and red and then the whole sky lit up as massive rockets went a hundred meters or more into the night sky. It was awesome! We moved to a less crowded space from where you could see a bit more and this was good as they started firing more powerful rockets that went high above the trees and were much better visible from our position.

New Year's fireworks from Clarke Quay

The show lasted for about ten minutes and then ended with a huge bang. Amazingly, the entire throng of people almost instantly dissolved and started heading back into town. The way back was fairly crowded but we made it home safely, took a quick shower and climbed into bed. Welcome 2017!

01 Jan
It was the last day of our holiday. We slept late, had breakfast and Ubered to Singapore’s famous Botanical Gardens. These gardens are substantial and in my opinion rivals Kirstenbosch. We walked through the Rainforest section and visited the Orchid garden that is quite something to behold. Nicola went slightly mad with the camera and took hundreds of pictures as we walked past some of the rarest orchids on earth.

Some of the rare orchids in the Singapore Botanical Gardens

 It was a beautiful sunny day but in the tropics that also meant it was very hot and sticky and by lunch time, we were already exhausted. We exited the gardens and got another Uber drive to some of the cheap Singapore malls where we browsed and bought some clothes, got lunch and eventually got back to the hotel by about 4pm. Our flight back home was leaving at 2am the next morning so we spent the afternoon, packing, showering and relaxing before heading to the airport at 10pm. We ate dinner in the lounge and boarded on time. The flight was uneventful and we landed a few minutes early and finally got back home just before 9am on the second of January.

It was a wonderful holiday! We loved Vietnam’s chaos, super-friendly people and the winter climate, scenic Ha-Long bay and landing on water in a sea plane. Thailand’s people were equally friendly and helpful and the birding here was fantastic, the shopping malls definitely worth a fair amount of time. And then the cleanliness, ease and efficiency of Singapore. I do have to  say something else about Singapore though: never before have I seen people so obsessed with themselves and their mobiles. Everywhere we went, people were either glued to their phones or pouting and posing for a selfie. At the zoo, we saw less than half a dozen people with proper cameras taking photos of the animals - the vast majority didn't even bother to read the information plaques to find out what they were looking for - they just scrambled to get a photo of themselves blocking out the animal in the background. On the Amazon cruise we were sailing past beautiful and rare creatures and the guy in the back spent eight of the ten minutes of the ride texting. This narcissistic behavior was disturbing for us. Nevertheless, it's still a wonderful city to see and explore – we’ll be back!