Made the decision to take an extended vacation to South East Asia during June 2023 beginning in Thailand. Plan was then to travel on to Laos and Vietnam.
Thailand Return
Was a little confused inside what this whole trip was about. I packed all my photography gear plus a travel tripod within limited space. Convinced myself would not get bored, filling the time with photography trips. Have been to Asia and Thailand many times in the past, but this was the first return trip in over 5 years. I just wanted a vacation, a change of scenery considered some new long haul exotic locations but the fear of the unknown got the better of me.
Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage
Hastings to Bangkok
Quite a journey, was planning to stay in Asia up to 2 or 3 months. So left car at home and got a lift to the train station. Train journey to Heathrow terminal 2 direct flight to Bangkok. Problem is with these type of trips need a return ticket so picked a date end of July out of the sky.
Bangkok Lumphini Park
While still at home had researched a few iconic locations to shoot while in Bangkok. The first location visited was Lumphini Park in the heart of Bangkok. It was a hot bright morning. Too hot really for photography, this was going to be the problem this time of year in Asia, not so much the temperature but that in combination with the humidity. I knew this before leaving but jumped head first anyway.
Monitor lizards are a common sight in Lumphini Park. Their ordinary our extra ordinary. Was using the 70-200mm lens zooming right in at 200mm wide open aperture at F5.6. This was a big mistake as needed DOF to keep the length of the reptile in focus. Not everyday get to photograph monitor lizards so was learning.
This was more just a location scout, the recommended spot to shoot Lumphini park was in a nearby hotel sky bar at sunset. I inquired within the hotel where the bar opened at 5pm. Intention was to return one evening. Never made it. Too hot, too many people to work your way through. Too many other distractions in Bangkok.
Temple of Dawn Sunset
Another iconic location to visit in the center of Bangkok is Wat Pho and Wat Arun aka the temple of dawn but I would be shooting it at sunset. Made my way to Wat Pho on a hot sticky afternoon in an overpriced taxi stuck in traffic jams. Bangkok does have some mass transit systems but the queues for tickets can be horrendous and at popular times will be packed like sardines. Its complicated to get around in Bangkok and very hot and sweaty. Scouted out the area then paid for a boat ride around Chao Phraya river and through the canals.
Had the 70-200mm lens aperture priority and a minimum fast shutter speed to counter the long boat movement. One striking image was the huge buddha statue of Wat Paknam rising above the Bangkok slums besides the river.
Back on terraferma made it back to the riverside to photograph the temple of dawn at sunset. Lots of people now, lots of photographers with tripods. Had packed my travel tripod but never used it. Just handholding high ISO when the light was low.
Chiang Mai Doi Inthanon
After a few weeks in Thailand was feeling fatigued and a little bored. Decided on a trip to Chiang Mai for a few days for a change of scenery. Its easy and relatively cheap to get around to new destinations when based in Asia. AirAsia and many other budget airlines cover just about every location. A little cooler in Chiang Mai but not much. Booked up a day trip hiking over the highest mountain in Thailand Doi Inthanon.
Always a little anxious about day trips and excursions not my preferred method of travel. Don’t know who you are going to be couped up with in the minibus. But luckily they were a good bunch of people and not packed. Would much rather though hire a motorbike if I could ride one and had insurance else too risky!
Beautiful bit of rain forest on top of Doi Inthanon. Temperatures dropped to 17c and had some fog which is perfect for woodland scenes. Not bring my tripod, even though it took up 1/3 of my suitcase. So just handholding in dark woodland conditions, high ISO and wide open aperture, not ideal settings. But this place was like sanctuary compared to the cities of Thailand. In the future I needed to spend a lot more time in places like this.
Thoroughly enjoyed the walk through the mountains in Thailand. We passed a few beautiful waterfalls on the way. These were difficult to photograph without a tripod, considering want some motion blur in the flowing water. I set my camera on the minimum shutter speed could manage without filters and also hand holding. Just kept shooting and one came out pretty sharp. Image stabilisation would have helped here but my DLSR has none and neither did the 24-70mm F2.8 lens I was using.
The guides recommend you bring some waterproofs. Lucky for us we just missed the downpours as the hike through the mountains and rice fields ended. Should have done more of these trips but not cheap and not ideal way of getting around. It was good to be out with the camera constantly framing compositions and pressing the shutter button. Travel photography is a different kettle of fish from landscape photography in your home country.
Benchakitti Park Bangkok
Been to Bangkok many times in years gone by but never visited Benchakitti park until this trip. Benchakitti park used to be used to grow tobacco and was the site of a Tobacco factory. But today the whole area has been given over to nature and is considered one of Bangkok’s lungs. It has elevated walkways which give good viewpoints for some photography. I had a couple of morning walks in Benjakitti park to scout it out. Thought would provide a good juxtaposition composition of the modern city skyscrapers in the background and green nature below and in the foreground.
Returned to Benchakitti park on my last evening in Bangkok with the DLSR camera and lenses not the tripod. Good evening out with the camera if a little humid and sweaty. Well worth a visit and should have done a lot more of this.
One regret I have while in Bangkok is not visiting Ayutthaya the ancient capital of Thailand with many temple ruins. Should have travelled here and stayed a few days.
Travel Photography Considerations
Travel photography is expensive, the majority of the day to day costs are food and accommodation.
I don’t really enjoy travel anymore, too many tourists, travelling to new destinations can fill the day but at the end of the day its just another airport, another flight, another hotel, another beach and another bar, photography aside.
To get around especially in south east Asia you need to rent a motorbike. Too risky for me never liked motorbikes and you wont get insurance. If you had an accident and there are lots of them you could be in serious financial difficulty let alone injuries. I guess it boils down to your appetite for risk. You can hire good motorbikes cheap few questions asked. Saying that though especially in places like Chiang Mai could have made a huge difference. In the back of my mind I would like to learn to ride a motorbike and get a proper license. Much like I would like to learn to drive on the other side of the road in places like Tenerife and Majorca.
This vacation was much like Gambia and Tunisia in that not strictly go for travel photography but more to relax and chill out. Then thought if I get bored would have photography day trips. But it not pan out that way these countries being so hot not really setup for hiking holidays.
Given the space taken up by the DLSR camera lenses and travel tripod was not justified based on how much it got used. In the future for these type of vacations which are not primarily photography will just take my compact camera and mini tripod. This takes excellent pictures and ironically with it being much less conspicuous would have got out a lot more and have a lot more photos to show for it. These type of locations are much better for street photography.
If your a solo traveller can be a lot of downtime in your hotel room waiting for it to cool down. Gets boring much more than being at home.
It will be my last extended vacation, no more than 10-14 days in the future. If it turns out good then can just extend the trip. Better to book an early return rather than a late one.
Any future travel will more be an extension of what I enjoy doing photography and walking in a temperate climate. I now have a life I not need to take a vacation from.
Its amazing how quicky you become accustomed to a new destination. The extraordinary quickly becomes ordinary.
Travel photography, a pursuit of delight, Yet, amidst the lens, reflections took flight. For travel, it’s more than the images we keep, It’s the lessons we learn, the emotions we reap.
Check out the Thailand travel photography gallery
