Thailand -- conclusion

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This trip was a total success!!

i was able to complete my objectives - see 5 different chosen wild animals and photograph them. And I need to say I had pleasant bonuses as well in this matter. :-)



It's also a kind of a rematch for this region. I explain. I went to the Philippines almost 20 years ago for a wedding. I wanted to do some nature ecotourism on free time, but nothing really worked!

By a combination of factors, we lacked sleep most of the time, didn't adapt to jet lag very well, and were not able visit any of the nature spots out of the city as we were not really prepared for it.

I was happy to go anyway for the wedding and we did visit some places in the city. But I felt we could have done more.

South-East Asia always attracted me, mainly for the different ecosystems and associated animals I am not familiar with, and a bit of culture. But I was a bit afraid to come back, considering my first experience..

After some research,, Thailand seemed the best choice for my taste because:

- They have real national parks, with rangers and trails, well taken care of, and not only parks on paper where you're not sure that the forest will still be there when you visit!!!

- transport: the road system is very efficient and can allow to do 400-600 km in a day, which is important if you need to cover much distance, and have somewhat limited time.

- information: a lots of information is available on web sites from the government, and other sources.

-Plenty of quality accommodations



Preparation for the trip started 6 months before. I learned some Thai basic read and write, along with important phrases.

Airplane trip was more comfortable, because we had some cushions to sleep on the back, but also face first, (cushion holding your head up when inclining in the front). also used an eye mask.

I had some places I absolutely wanted to visit, and the rest was only a wish list, so trip was very flexible. finally, I did all that I wanted to do!!



What will be next stop? Now that I am reconciled with long flights, I have a couple of ideas. More on this later end of summer.

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