I'll go on a backpacking trip to Thailand (and maybe surrouding south east asia - Borneo is certainly appealing, but I'll have to keep my bank account in mind ) at the end of the year. So, in all likelyhood, it's going to be limited to Thailand.
I have two questions:
1) If anybody (I'm sure there's somebody) knows this region well, either becaus of living there, or having made extensive trips, can you recommend some locations? We're looking to avoid the biggest tourist hot spots, and are interested in nature (landscape, wildlife, "the wild"... you get the idea).
2) We'll have to carry everything on our backs, so there will be two big backpacks. How to store & carry the photo gear is a major problem, IMO. Either, I'll carry a LowePro Stealth Reporter D300 (which is not very low key, unlike the Rower AW II I'm using for city trips), and I'm worried about theft. Or I'll have to stuff everything into the main backpack somehow. Has anybody any tips on how to achieve the goal of carrying the gear safe from shocks (= padded somehow), and still not have to haul around an additional bag that screams "steal me!" out loud?
The gear I'm planning to bring is a Nikon D300 (maybe I'll grab dad's D40x - not as expensive in case of worst case), Tokina 12-24/4 DX, 105/2.8 VR Micro, 70-300 VR Nikkor and a compact midrange lens (either a 35/2 or a 18-135 DX).
It's maybe not a once in a lifetime, but certainly a once in a very long time trip, so I'd really like to have my equipment with me.
Hey Basil - I tried to send an email but got a reply saying "foreign yahoo.com addresses are blocked". Anyway, here's what I sent :
I've never been to Asia, so I can't offer any advice, but over on TravelPhotographers.net I know I've seen some pics and discussion of Thailand and SE Asia. You might want to sign up/on over there to post the question.
Unfortunately, they don't have a forum search feature, so I can't look easily for the previous discussions.
Hi Basil, I live in Phuket and know the National Parks of peninsular Thailand quite well.
Your plans seem pretty vague at the moment so I will stick to giving you general travel advice. We can talk about details later through e-mails.
There is a very good bus network around the country, the buses are cheap (about 1 Euro for 100km), frequent and fairly safe (don't put your cameras in the hold, keep them with you or give them to the driver to look after). Car hire, when booked locally, can be had for about 20 Euros a day and I think will allow you to have a much more enjoyable holiday than using public transport.
As far as venues go, if you're after nature then there is nowhere better than Kaeng Krachan National Park. It lies at the top of the peninsular and hosts a huge array of wildlife including over 400 bird species. The other main National Parks are Khao Yai to the North-east of Bangkok and Doi Inthanon to the West of Chiang Mai. There are also more than 100 smaller national parks.
Most national parks have basic accomodation for about 15 Euros a room and campsites for next to nothing.
The amount of English spoken depends on how close you are to a tourist destination.
You can contact me through my website (www.phuketnaturetours.com) for further information.
I've never traveled in Thailand but in terms of protecting your gear, I might be able to give some advice. I have been through China, Nepal and most of South America carrying a Hasselblad H2D so I know what you mean about theft concerns. I carry all my gear in a standard 45 litre 'summit backpack' that is small enough to fit into the carry on requirement screening cage for the airlines. I pad everything with a down jacket and my spare clothes. I put my camera and memory cards into a lightweight drybag inside the pack so it's protected from any water leaks or rain. I put a pack cover over the pack which also covers my tripod and put duct tape on it to make it look used and old. People rarely take a second look at my bag and there is nothing on it that gives any indication of the value of the contents. I keep it with me at all times and never check it anywhere. It feels like a ball and chain at times but it's worth the peace of mind. The standard Lowe Pro camera packs are a big target IMO and I would avoid them for travel in Asia. I would also cover all labels including the 'Nikon' or 'Canon' label on your camera with black electrical tape. I've never had anything break or get stolen with this system. 'Pac-Safe' makes a portable kevlar material 'safe' that I always carry with me and store my camera and memory cards in it when I'm in hostels or shady hotels. It has a metal wire that can be wrapped around a pipe or beam to secure it to the room. Make sure you carry two keys for it and store them in separate locations. Make sure you try the system out on a few local dayhikes before your big trip. Hope that helps you. Have a fantastic trip!
Thanks a lot for those who replied! As remarked, the plans at this point are pretty vague. We have four weeks for the Thailand trip, starting in early January (I might get there a week or two earlier to also see Borneo - may also make some sense to stay a bit longer given the long flight from Europe and the associated costs, both economical and ecological). I think that's not plenty of time, but we still hope to have an exciting time.
I've thought about getting a big travel backpack large enough to stuff my camera bag in there, so I could carry it "concealed", but still have the opportunity to remove it and carry it separately (e.g. during flights as carry-on etc.). Alternatively, I might install the camera bag's padding in the large pack to make kind of a huge LowePro Rover-style bag.
Discussion
5 repliesI'll go on a backpacking trip to Thailand (and maybe surrouding south east asia - Borneo is certainly appealing, but I'll have to keep my bank account in mind
I have two questions:
1) If anybody (I'm sure there's somebody) knows this region well, either becaus of living there, or having made extensive trips, can you recommend some locations? We're looking to avoid the biggest tourist hot spots, and are interested in nature (landscape, wildlife, "the wild"... you get the idea).
2) We'll have to carry everything on our backs, so there will be two big backpacks. How to store & carry the photo gear is a major problem, IMO. Either, I'll carry a LowePro Stealth Reporter D300 (which is not very low key, unlike the Rower AW II I'm using for city trips), and I'm worried about theft. Or I'll have to stuff everything into the main backpack somehow. Has anybody any tips on how to achieve the goal of carrying the gear safe from shocks (= padded somehow), and still not have to haul around an additional bag that screams "steal me!" out loud?
The gear I'm planning to bring is a Nikon D300 (maybe I'll grab dad's D40x - not as expensive in case of worst case), Tokina 12-24/4 DX, 105/2.8 VR Micro, 70-300 VR Nikkor and a compact midrange lens (either a 35/2 or a 18-135 DX).
It's maybe not a once in a lifetime, but certainly a once in a very long time trip, so I'd really like to have my equipment with me.
Thanks for any ideas from experienced users.
Basil
I've never been to Asia, so I can't offer any advice, but over on TravelPhotographers.net I know I've seen some pics and discussion of Thailand and SE Asia. You might want to sign up/on over there to post the question.
Unfortunately, they don't have a forum search feature, so I can't look easily for the previous discussions.
Sounds like a great trip....hope it goes well,
Dave
Your plans seem pretty vague at the moment so I will stick to giving you general travel advice. We can talk about details later through e-mails.
There is a very good bus network around the country, the buses are cheap (about 1 Euro for 100km), frequent and fairly safe (don't put your cameras in the hold, keep them with you or give them to the driver to look after). Car hire, when booked locally, can be had for about 20 Euros a day and I think will allow you to have a much more enjoyable holiday than using public transport.
As far as venues go, if you're after nature then there is nowhere better than Kaeng Krachan National Park. It lies at the top of the peninsular and hosts a huge array of wildlife including over 400 bird species. The other main National Parks are Khao Yai to the North-east of Bangkok and Doi Inthanon to the West of Chiang Mai. There are also more than 100 smaller national parks.
Most national parks have basic accomodation for about 15 Euros a room and campsites for next to nothing.
The amount of English spoken depends on how close you are to a tourist destination.
You can contact me through my website (www.phuketnaturetours.com) for further information.
Ian.
I've never traveled in Thailand but in terms of protecting your gear, I might be able to give some advice. I have been through China, Nepal and most of South America carrying a Hasselblad H2D so I know what you mean about theft concerns. I carry all my gear in a standard 45 litre 'summit backpack' that is small enough to fit into the carry on requirement screening cage for the airlines. I pad everything with a down jacket and my spare clothes. I put my camera and memory cards into a lightweight drybag inside the pack so it's protected from any water leaks or rain. I put a pack cover over the pack which also covers my tripod and put duct tape on it to make it look used and old. People rarely take a second look at my bag and there is nothing on it that gives any indication of the value of the contents. I keep it with me at all times and never check it anywhere. It feels like a ball and chain at times but it's worth the peace of mind. The standard Lowe Pro camera packs are a big target IMO and I would avoid them for travel in Asia. I would also cover all labels including the 'Nikon' or 'Canon' label on your camera with black electrical tape. I've never had anything break or get stolen with this system. 'Pac-Safe' makes a portable kevlar material 'safe' that I always carry with me and store my camera and memory cards in it when I'm in hostels or shady hotels. It has a metal wire that can be wrapped around a pipe or beam to secure it to the room. Make sure you carry two keys for it and store them in separate locations. Make sure you try the system out on a few local dayhikes before your big trip. Hope that helps you. Have a fantastic trip!
-Mike
I've thought about getting a big travel backpack large enough to stuff my camera bag in there, so I could carry it "concealed", but still have the opportunity to remove it and carry it separately (e.g. during flights as carry-on etc.). Alternatively, I might install the camera bag's padding in the large pack to make kind of a huge LowePro Rover-style bag.
Basil