Hotel Review: 100 Islands Hotel, Surat Thani

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Tara

This small but elegant hotel was a pleasant surprise and even almost like an eco-lodge.

Craft shop outside

Beautiful lobby and garden

Bird art!

Very attractively furnished Thai style room with a nice view of what I think is some kind of eco-lodge next door.

Lush tropical pool with birds in the garden.

We weren’t going to miss our last chance for a Thai massage!

The included breakfast buffet offered both Thai and Western food.

This supermarket is right across the street and you can get takeaway food to bring back to the room. The hotel also has a restaurant but I wanted to catch up on things online so we ate in.

The best part of staying at 100 Islands is how unbelievably cheap it was! Around $25! Seriously!

Lomprayah Ferry & Air Asia To Malaysia

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Tara

Our next birding destinations were in Malaysia so after a couple lazy days on the beach at Koh Samui, we were rested up and ready to bird! As I mentioned, flights to and from Koh Samui are not cheap and I had run out of stopovers to cram into the generous United award ticket. So we took the Lomprayah ferry from Koh Samui to Surat Thani and Air Asia to Kuala Lumpur. From there, a 5 hour bus ride would get us to our first Malaysian destination – Taiping. We could have gotten up early and done it all on one day but I was wary of cutting the connections too close as ferries can be cancelled if weather is bad.

Actually if it had not been Songkran (major holiday in Thailand) we would have taken the train to Butterworth, then bus to Taiping but you can’t book Thai trains online and I didn’t want to risk not getting a sleeping car.

The Lomprayah van picked us up and took us to the jetty. The ferry left a bit late but was a pleasant and speedy way across the sea to the mainland.

It wasn’t full so we spread out and enjoyed the ride.

Most people will have booked combo tickets that include a bus ride to your final destination in Thailand. I had booked us to Surat Thani town where we were dropped at the office in town and had to get a taxi to the hotel. They arranged it but we had to pay something ridiculous like 300-400 Baht!

The second part of this journey was Air Asia from Surat Thani to Kuala Lumpur which I booked online well in advance (due to Songkran) and got an insanely cheap price of around $35 per person!

Lovely welcoming committee! I don’t know if these ladies are always here or it was special for Songkran. At this small airport you have to wait until about a hour before boarding to go through security to the gate.

R&R In Koh Samui

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Tara

Koh Samui isn’t a destination for birders but it does make a nice place to spend a couple of days resting up after your birding in Thailand! Although flights here are normally expensive, strategic use of United awards can get you a free trip! So here is a brief look at our R&R time. Especially if you are traveling with a non-birder, it can be nice to work in a holiday between rainforests!

Looks enticing from the air!

Koh Samui has a nice little tropical airport.

Ladyboy show just down the road from our hotel.

Prices at this night bazaar were at least double what they were in Chiang Mai so save your money!

Thai massage is everywhere!

I got a really good deal on the Samui Laguna Resort from Hotels.com which counted as 2 nights towards a free after 10 nights. Perfect location – on the beach and walking distance to everything in Lamai.

Unfortunately not a real bird!

Nice surprise to find a Moroccan Restaurant in Koh Samui – great food too!

Not so nice to see caged Bulbuls in a shop nearby!

Our room came with a breakfast buffet included daily, complete with freshly made omelets.

Getting ideas for my upcoming bathroom renovation!

Red-breasted Parakeet (Psittacula alexandri)

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Tara

The Red-breasted Parakeet (Psittacula alexandri) is among the more widespread species of the genus and is the species which has the most geographical variations. It is easily identified by the large reddish patch on its breast. An alternative name is the Moustached Parakeet depending on subspecies. The subspecies found in Thailand is Psittacula alexandri fasciata.

My long-distance shots don’t do this beauty justice so here’s the Wikipedia shot.

Here’s a couple of my shots from the Khao Yai area.

Red-breasted Parakeets have a huge range from South and South-East Asia, from northern and eastern India (including the Andaman Islands), Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, ranging through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and southern China (Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan), with populations in Indonesia, on Java, Bali Karimunjawa, Kangean, Simeulue, Nias and Banyak, and in Kalimantan (where probably introduced from Java) (Juniper and Parr 1998). For travel logistical purposes, the easiest place to see them would be in Thailand where there is a city-based flock in the Dusit area and a large population in the Khao Yai area seen easily near the Balios Resort. Your ears will find them!

LEARN MORE ABOUT RED-BREASTED PARAKEETS

VIDEO

This video was taken in Thailand and you can clearly hear the bird’s call.

Here’s a nesting pair.

Beautiful close-up!

Hotel Review – Balios Resort, Khao Yai NP, Thailand

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Tara

When researching accommodation near Khao Yai National Park for our one night layover, one name kept popping up as the best place to stay, favored by international birding tour groups – Juldis Khao Yai Resort. Red-breasted Parakeets were known to frequent the grounds! When I went searching for it, I discovered it had been renamed Balios Resort and was easily booked on any of the major booking engines such as Rocketmiles, Pointshound and Hotels.com.

It’s kind of surprising to see such a large, fancy resort so near a national park and they went all out with the Italian decor.

Lobby area

Swimming pool

Well-maintained garden

The room was spotless and had a great view of the garden. If we had stayed longer, it would have been nice to sit on the balcony and look for birds.

An amusing list of hotel items for sale – armchair, anyone?

Buffet breakfast served in the dining hall with a nice view of the pool.

It seemed kind of strange to be in this lavish resort when I was expecting a birding lodge (since other groups stayed there) but it was a really nice place and less than $100. We would definitely stay there again if we return to Khao Yai (hopefully for a longer stay)!

Long Bangkok Layover Pictorial – Khao Yai Area

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Tara

As described here, these are the photos from our long Bangkok layover between Chiang Mai and Koh Samui.

Bangkok Airways has a nice livery!

Always inspect your rental car and take photos.

Up early in Khao Yai (outside the park proper) birding the grounds of the Balios Resort and nearby. Nothing that would excite most birders – no rare birds but I was thrilled to get a better look at Red-breasted Parakeets (aka Moustache Parrots).

This is where we chased the Red-breasted Parakeets – the empty lot next to the Palio Shopping Centre. They make enough noise!

We had a bit of drama with the car, at one point it wouldn’t start and I was freaking out! We pushed it into a car park and after several tries, thankfully it started but I wouldn’t turn it off all the rest of the way to Bangkok. It was nice to see how pretty the area is since we arrived in the dark. My review of Balios Resort.

This is what you can expect if you drive a rental car. The roads are pretty well marked in both Thai and English. We had no trouble finding the airport although it took a while to find a petrol station to refuel at. It was a public holiday the day we drove back so there were no tolls which was nice!

Closest petrol station to the airport – they take credit cards.

The airport traffic is always crazy!

Car back safe and sound – return inspection.

Car rental kiosks at BKK domestic terminal.

Short Bangkok Layover Pictorial – Dusit Area & Khao San Road

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Tara

As described here, these are the photos from our short Bangkok layover between a flight from ADD-BKK on ET and BKK-BNE on TG.

Bangkok traffic enroute to Dusit and some temples.

Dusit Zoo – don’t come here for the caged animals, come here for the beautiful grounds that attract wild birds!

I want these for my backyard!

Waiting outside for a tuktuk, we finally sighted a flock of Red-breasted Parakeets!

It was mostly nostalgia for my younger backpacker days that made me want to spend the evening here. It’s gotten out of control – seriously, KFC & Maccas?

I just had to buy a couple bags, they had birds on them!

We had to get a massage after all that walking!

They STILL sell fake IDs! I can remember getting a fake press pass here in the mid 90’s that got me into Afghanistan as a journalist!

Tailor shops are everywhere but this one specializing in wedding gowns was pretty cool!

Birding On A Bangkok Layover – Short & Long Options

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Tara

If you are collecting Star Alliance miles with United or someone else, odds are that you will find yourself flying Thai Airways quite a bit. I’ve transited Bangkok between Australia and Asia, Africa, Europe and the USA on sometimes very complicated routings. Depending on time of day and connections, you can often add a layover in Bangkok to your trip. Since there are so many blogs specializing in Thailand, I am only going to discuss birding options here.

Remember, a layover is less than 24 hours. If you plan well, you can slot one into an existing itinerary such as this one to Africa or this one to South-east Asia and take advantage of United’s generous routing rules. If you go over 24 hours, it is then a stop-over and will count as the one stop-over you get on a RT ticket.

SHORT DAYTIME LAYOVER – DUSIT AREA

This excursion is best done early in the morning or late afternoon and you need at least 6 hours layover. Take the airport train to the last station – Phaya Thai, then get a tuktuk or taxi to the Dusit Zoo. Yes, I know the birds and animals are in cages there but you want to focus on the wild birds in the lush, tropical grounds. I was targeting Red-breasted Parakeets which flock in the area. I will do a pictorial on a separate post but here’s a sample. I saw several flyover parakeets while we were walking around the park but the best sighting was a huge flock that flew right over our heads unexpectedly (before I could focus the camera) as we waited on the street outside for a passing tuktuk.

When you are ready to leave, the famous backpacker haunt – Khao San Road is about 15 minutes by tuktuk so we grabbed a quick snack, had a massage and got a tuktuk back to Phaya Thai station so we could make our flight at 23:59 to BNE.

LONG LAYOVER – 23 HOURS – KHAO YAI NATIONAL PARK

I managed to build a 23 hour layover between Chiang Mai and Koh Samui on our most recent trip and we planned a quickie visit to Khao Yai National Park. At first I was thinking we should use the public minibuses to Pak Chong, then a taxi to the hotel – the Balios Resort (formerly the Juldis Khao Yai) which is located near the park and where most of the big birding tour operators stay with their groups. After the successful self-drive birding adventure to Doi Inthanon and Mae Ping, I worked up my confidence to drive from BKK to Khao Yai and booked a Hertz car.

The line was longer than I expected so it took awhile to get our car and get out of the airport. The traffic was intimidating but luckily I managed to get on the right motorway heading north but it was very slow-going until we reached the outskirts. It was around 9pm before we reached the hotel and we were exhausted. The restaurant was closed so we cleaned out the mini-bar and the biscuits we had in the car.

The next morning, I was eager to find Red-breasted Parakeets and any other birds so we were up at the crack of dawn walking around the grounds. It didn’t take long to hear the parakeets but they led us on a merry chase forcing us to leave the hotel, scurry down the road and find them in a nearby vacant lot on the other side of the Palio Shopping Centre. This time we got better sightings and better photos than the Dusit one! We couldn’t linger a long time as we needed to drive back to BKK so we never got to enter the park proper – so there’s a good reason to come back!

Here’s a teaser, full pictorial coming!

Copa Offers Great Bargains To Central & South America

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Tara

Sometimes you don’t need miles to get an incredible deal to your favourite birding hotspot!

How about Costa Rica? Peru? Brazil?

Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara ararauna)

Blue-headed Parrot (Pionus menstruus)

Enjoy our promotion and buy your tickets on 4th of July and travel from United States and Puerto Rico** to incredible destinations through the Hub of the Americas in Panama.

Buy your ticket from July 3 through July 7, 2015 an travel between August 1 and October 25, 2015.

SPG 50% Bonus When Transferring To AAdvantage

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Tara

This promo will be especially welcome if you aren’t American and can’t get the AAdvantage co-branded credit cards. If you have an Aussie Amex MR you can change 40k MR to 20k SPG, then transfer then to 30k AAdvantage. We still don’t know what the AAdvantage program will look like when the dust settles after the merger so don’t go too crazy. Just transfer enough to cover your needs for the next 18-24 months. I’m only transferring 40k Amex this time just in case J space opens up on next year’s plans.

Converting your Starpoints into AAdvantage miles will bring you closer to reaching your dream destination faster.

Convert now >>

Terms and Conditions:

AAdvantage^® Bonus Mile Offer Terms and Conditions

To qualify for this AAdvantage^® bonus mile offer, member must initiate the AAdvantage mileage conversions with the Starwood Preferred Guest^® program between 12:00 am Central time July 1, 2015 and 11:59 pm Central time August 7, 2015 (the “Promotion Period”), and be in good standing in the AAdvantage program. Members can convert multiple times during the Promotion Period.

To earn the 20% conversion bonus, member must convert points from the Starwood Preferred Guest program. This offer is non-transferable and non-reversible.

Bonus miles will be posted by American Airlines to the qualifying AAdvantage member’s account within 7 business days after the initial conversion activity has been posted by Starwood Preferred Guest. Bonus miles earned in this promotion do not count toward elite status qualification.

American Airlines, AAdvantage, the Flight Symbol logo and MileSAAver are marks of American Airlines, Inc.

Starwood Guest Preferred Transfer to Miles Terms and Conditions

Starwood Preferred Guests can transfer up to 79,999 of their Starpoints^® per transaction per program within a 24-hour period to the American Airlines AAdvantage^® program. Plus, for every 20,000 Starpoints transferred within the same transaction, Starwood will automatically add another 5,000 Starpoints! This means that up to 94,999 Starpoints can be transferred into your AAdvantage account.

There is no minimum Starpoint transfer requirement for Platinum Preferred Guest members. Gold Preferred Guest members have a minimum transfer requirement of 1,500 Starpoints, and Preferred Guest members have a minimum transfer requirement of 2,500 Starpoints.

Transfer maximums are based on a combination of member Starpoints and the Starwood Preferred Guest airline transfer transaction bonus. Only one airline transfer transaction per member per 24 hour period is allowed; multiple transfer transactions within the same 24 hour period will reject. Both the Starwood Preferred Guest and AAdvantage account must have identical member names in order to complete this request; different names will cause the transfer to reject. Airline transfers are one-way, non-reversible, and non-refundable.

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