Spectacular views!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Photo trip report: Unseen Northern Provinces
-
Dannie Boy
- Hero
- Posts: 12264
- Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 8:12 pm
- Location: Closer to Cha Am than Hua Hin
Re: Photo trip report: Unseen Northern Provinces
Soon it was time to head south again, we were at the northern point of our trip, a thousand kilometers from home. Instead of risking life and limb on single lane roads back to Phetchabun it was decided to head to Khon Kaen for a night and take the highway south from there.
On the way we stopped at what is known as Kunming in Loei, a nature park built around the rock formations. No dual pricing was refreshing and we were the only ones there! A guided walk through the labyrinthine rock formations and a ride into the park and back set us back a whopping 55 baht each – clearly the Chinese have yet to invade the outer reaches of Loei province even though the name suggests otherwise.
To follow: Khon Kaen and south
On the way we stopped at what is known as Kunming in Loei, a nature park built around the rock formations. No dual pricing was refreshing and we were the only ones there! A guided walk through the labyrinthine rock formations and a ride into the park and back set us back a whopping 55 baht each – clearly the Chinese have yet to invade the outer reaches of Loei province even though the name suggests otherwise.
To follow: Khon Kaen and south
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: Photo trip report: Unseen Northern Provinces
Khon Kaen is a huge flat sprawling city that grinds to a halt during rush hour. We didn’t get to see much of the city due to road fatigue, and our hotel was in the middle of the nightclub district which didn’t help matters.
Two rapid fire coffees and on the road early next morning to click off some kilometers. Unfortunately the road was not playing ball as every 4 kilometers or so there was another set of traffic lights making this ‘highway’ extremely slow going. Going via Phetchabun would have been better after all without all of the stop starting.
To break the journey we stopped in Saraburi and it was raining when we arrived so food and relaxation were the only things in order after driving the hellish highway 2 south of Korat battling with a thousand buses. Another empty resort on the outskirts of the nondescript city provided our beds for the night.
As you’ve probably gathered, I’m not fond of driving in Thailand – it’s like playing a video game where you only have one life and everything out there is trying to kill you!
To follow ... Amphawa
Two rapid fire coffees and on the road early next morning to click off some kilometers. Unfortunately the road was not playing ball as every 4 kilometers or so there was another set of traffic lights making this ‘highway’ extremely slow going. Going via Phetchabun would have been better after all without all of the stop starting.
To break the journey we stopped in Saraburi and it was raining when we arrived so food and relaxation were the only things in order after driving the hellish highway 2 south of Korat battling with a thousand buses. Another empty resort on the outskirts of the nondescript city provided our beds for the night.
As you’ve probably gathered, I’m not fond of driving in Thailand – it’s like playing a video game where you only have one life and everything out there is trying to kill you!
To follow ... Amphawa
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: Photo trip report: Unseen Northern Provinces
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: Photo trip report: Unseen Northern Provinces
The next day’s leg was even worse as we had to deal with Pathum Thani, outer Bangkok, and the dreaded highway 35 to get to Amphawa where we would stop for the night. One hard lesson learned was not to trust Google Maps GPS – it will either drive you straight into a wall of traffic, or down a country lane with more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese, to shave 32 seconds off the journey – which actually ends up adding about 30 minutes.
Another thing Google can’t do is predict where the traffic police, in all of their wisdom, have closed off the u-turns. Today’s sub-200 kilometer journey ended up taking over four hours and we were glad to finally arrive in Amphawa mid-afternoon.
Being mid-week most of the place, including the big market, was closed. On the plus side the accommodation was half the price and we had the place to ourselves. The only thing floating at this market though was the trash in the river.
The reason for coming here was to see the fireflies so we chartered a boat for 600 baht and headed up river at 7pm. Again, not being a weekend, there were no other boats so we coasted along the banks watching the trees light up like a Griswold’s Christmas vacation. Apparently a certain type of tree attracts them to this area. Without some serious Nat Geo camera kit it was impossible to get any shots of them.
We finished off with a lovely seafood meal on the river and headed back south the next morning.
All photography shot on Nikon D7200 (aside from a couple on the phone) and post processing done using Adobe Lightroom.
To follow ... observations
Another thing Google can’t do is predict where the traffic police, in all of their wisdom, have closed off the u-turns. Today’s sub-200 kilometer journey ended up taking over four hours and we were glad to finally arrive in Amphawa mid-afternoon.
Being mid-week most of the place, including the big market, was closed. On the plus side the accommodation was half the price and we had the place to ourselves. The only thing floating at this market though was the trash in the river.
The reason for coming here was to see the fireflies so we chartered a boat for 600 baht and headed up river at 7pm. Again, not being a weekend, there were no other boats so we coasted along the banks watching the trees light up like a Griswold’s Christmas vacation. Apparently a certain type of tree attracts them to this area. Without some serious Nat Geo camera kit it was impossible to get any shots of them.
We finished off with a lovely seafood meal on the river and headed back south the next morning.
All photography shot on Nikon D7200 (aside from a couple on the phone) and post processing done using Adobe Lightroom.
To follow ... observations
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: Photo trip report: Unseen Northern Provinces
Observations
Price Hikes
I’ve travelled a lot in Thailand over the past two decades and prices are climbing sharply, combine that with a strong baht and it is no wonder there are no foreign tourists here - Thailand is no Singapore. Accommodation prices have jumped considerably and it was often a challenge finding rooms under a thousand baht in many places, though occupancy was never more than 25% anywhere we stayed (aside from Phu Tubberk). The big cities with more choices were much easier than the more remote places which clearly over charged for very basic digs. Pretty much all hotels had a weekend premium, some as much as double the price, whether they were full or not. The typical Thai mentality of hiking the prices when there are fewer customers is in full effect.
Tourist Slump
There were virtually no farangs anywhere in any of the destinations we visited. The most I saw on the entire trip were retirees/expats at the food court in Hua Hin before we left. Even the very touristy Chiang Khan only had a couple of westerners and very few Chinese. The vast majority of tourists were Thai and on weekends most places were rammed; the country has become a land of weekend warriors and that appears to be the only thing propping up the battered tourism industry at the moment.
Travel Ninja
The TM30 fiasco was totally negated as I made all of the Agoda bookings in the mrs’ name and she did all of the checking in. I was only asked for a passport once at the Loei Palace Hotel and provided the pink Thai ID card which sufficed as I did not bring my PP. So, as far as the Gestapo are concerned, I have never left home having stayed in seven different provinces and eleven different hotels.
Road Rants
We had covered over 2,500 kilometers this trip so spent a lot of time on Thai roads. Thai driving is as atrocious as ever and there were a couple of very close shaves for us (we split the driving). Idiots of the opinion that they are the most important people on the roads are the biggest danger. The lunacy is exacerbated by trucks and buses hogging the outside lane and refusing to pull over, or swerving out without even a glance around them for other road users.
I was under the impression that roads in Issan were all very good but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes, there are some nice stretches of blacktop, but the majority is like driving on the moon. Long stretches of highway which are supposed to be express ways (hw 2 from Khon Kaen to Khorat a prime example) have traffic lights every 4km which makes the going very slow and a 300km trip can take the best part of a day. The worst ones were the single lane inter-provincial roads that the heavy trucks use and everything battles to overtake causing near death experiences every ten minutes. It is no surprise that Thailand’s roads are the worst in the world when you spend enough time on them.
We placed too much reliance on Google Maps and it led us astray on several occasions. Go with your common sense and don’t listen to Google – it knows very little about Thai roads!
Hidden Gems
Driving woes aside, there are still some hidden gems in Thailand if you look hard enough. Places that farangs (and Chinese) have hardly touched and locals are still friendly, though they are rapidly disappearing under the avalanche of weekend warriors and Thailand’s nouveau riche that are keeping the flailing tourism industry afloat. Travel during the week if you want places to yourselves and reasonable prices!
Once again, thanks for the comments.
Price Hikes
I’ve travelled a lot in Thailand over the past two decades and prices are climbing sharply, combine that with a strong baht and it is no wonder there are no foreign tourists here - Thailand is no Singapore. Accommodation prices have jumped considerably and it was often a challenge finding rooms under a thousand baht in many places, though occupancy was never more than 25% anywhere we stayed (aside from Phu Tubberk). The big cities with more choices were much easier than the more remote places which clearly over charged for very basic digs. Pretty much all hotels had a weekend premium, some as much as double the price, whether they were full or not. The typical Thai mentality of hiking the prices when there are fewer customers is in full effect.
Tourist Slump
There were virtually no farangs anywhere in any of the destinations we visited. The most I saw on the entire trip were retirees/expats at the food court in Hua Hin before we left. Even the very touristy Chiang Khan only had a couple of westerners and very few Chinese. The vast majority of tourists were Thai and on weekends most places were rammed; the country has become a land of weekend warriors and that appears to be the only thing propping up the battered tourism industry at the moment.
Travel Ninja
The TM30 fiasco was totally negated as I made all of the Agoda bookings in the mrs’ name and she did all of the checking in. I was only asked for a passport once at the Loei Palace Hotel and provided the pink Thai ID card which sufficed as I did not bring my PP. So, as far as the Gestapo are concerned, I have never left home having stayed in seven different provinces and eleven different hotels.
Road Rants
We had covered over 2,500 kilometers this trip so spent a lot of time on Thai roads. Thai driving is as atrocious as ever and there were a couple of very close shaves for us (we split the driving). Idiots of the opinion that they are the most important people on the roads are the biggest danger. The lunacy is exacerbated by trucks and buses hogging the outside lane and refusing to pull over, or swerving out without even a glance around them for other road users.
I was under the impression that roads in Issan were all very good but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes, there are some nice stretches of blacktop, but the majority is like driving on the moon. Long stretches of highway which are supposed to be express ways (hw 2 from Khon Kaen to Khorat a prime example) have traffic lights every 4km which makes the going very slow and a 300km trip can take the best part of a day. The worst ones were the single lane inter-provincial roads that the heavy trucks use and everything battles to overtake causing near death experiences every ten minutes. It is no surprise that Thailand’s roads are the worst in the world when you spend enough time on them.
We placed too much reliance on Google Maps and it led us astray on several occasions. Go with your common sense and don’t listen to Google – it knows very little about Thai roads!
Hidden Gems
Driving woes aside, there are still some hidden gems in Thailand if you look hard enough. Places that farangs (and Chinese) have hardly touched and locals are still friendly, though they are rapidly disappearing under the avalanche of weekend warriors and Thailand’s nouveau riche that are keeping the flailing tourism industry afloat. Travel during the week if you want places to yourselves and reasonable prices!
Once again, thanks for the comments.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson