Birding South East Asia (1 Viewer)

[Gibbo 92]

I will be looking at travelling around South East Asia for 3 months starting in Vietnam in October.

I am planning a 3 day tour to Cat Tien, I have been searching for a guide and found a reasonably priced trip.

http://www.vietnambirdshooting.com/...-for-birding-tours-in-3-day.html#.WNZ-9vmLTIU

Has anyone been on a trip from this company?

Any more information on recommended guided day - 3 day trips in Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia would be most appreciated. Or whether it's possible to self-bird in most areas?

Many Thanks,

 

[McMadd]

Unfortunate name for a bird tour company...

 

[dwatsonbirder]

I can't offer specific advise on birding in Cambodia, but there is certainly no problem with general birding in either Thailand or Malaysia, in fact it is quite easy. There are some fantastic places to visit, the best advise would be to look at some trip reports and see what sites fit in with your itinerary, or to pick out particular target birds and then use e-bird to look for locations. You'll certainly get a decent haul in 3 months.

 

[dalat]

I am planning a 3 day tour to Cat Tien, I have been searching for a guide and found a reasonably priced trip.

http://www.vietnambirdshooting.com/...-for-birding-tours-in-3-day.html#.WNZ-9vmLTIU

Has anyone been on a trip from this company?

Bird photography has become more popular in recent years in Vietnam, and a few new companies (more like individual persons) have started offering photo tours. I think the "birdshooting" is one of those. If you're more into birding than photography, I'd rather recommend to go with one of the two reputable bird tour operators in Vietnam:
http://www.vietnambirding.com/
http://www.vietnamwildtour.com/

That said, I don't think for Cat Tien, a tour is really necessary. It's easy to get there and to find trails and locations. And you can always use the national park guides there., e.g. for the first day.

For Cambodia, Sam Vaesna centre is the operator to use (pricey but money goes into conservation projects there, and there are no real alternatives as afar as i know): http://www.samveasna.org/

 

[Goedbloed]

Agree with Dalat, many places in SE-Asia are easy without guides, but some areas in Cambodia are more difficult to reach independently, especially the northern part with the best birds (Giant Ibis, White-winged duck etc)

Maybe an idea to do easy areas independent to save money for guided tours for more difficult parts of the trip?

 

[Gibbo 92]

That's great many thanks for all the info.

 

[iraqbabbler]

I birded Cat Tien before (also three days), and I hired Mr Duyen. He's a great local guide, and his rates are very reasonable. You might want to phone ahead to make sure he's available.

You'll find the phone number in the following link.

http://www.namcattien.org/thepark.htm

By the way, if you can spare more than three days, you'll absolutely love it! It's one of the best national parks in the world for birding (and other wildlife)-- far better than many other South East Asian national parks. :t:

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Another must visit site in Vietnam if you're in the north of the country is Cuc Phuong. Not too hard to get there from Hanoi, easy without a guide, and has a whopping haul of quality birds you won't get at Cat Tien. Some good easily accessible sites around Dalat (in between Cat Tien and Cuc Puong) too. Will echo what others have said, that in general SE Asia is a doddle without guides.