This is a trip
report from a largely non-birding trip to Laos starting with a two day
"cruise" on a slow boat down the Mekong with an overnight stop at Pak
Beng. This was followed by a day in Luang Prabang, onwards to Vang
Vieng where we spent three nights before driving to Vientiane from
where we returned to Bangkok. Our itinery was based on a typical
"Lonely Planet" back-packers holiday - although we stayed in some vary
nice hotels indeed.
Laos is a beautiful country and our experiences here only made us want
to come back and experience more. Some birding reports / information
about Laos suggest not bothering with this country from the birding
point of view. This was not my experience as, for the most part, there
were as many birds to see here as there were in Northern Thailand.
Compared to Pak Thale outside Bangkok both Laos and Northern Thailand
were bird-deficient.
I would definitely like to get back to Laos and do some more serious
birding....
For more about (Not) Birding Thailand see this
link.
For an annotated species list see this
link.
Itinery in Laos
15 November 2014: Mekong Cruise from Huoay Xay to Pak Beng
16 November 2014: Mekong Cruise from Pak Beng to Luang Prabang
17 November 2014: A day spent almost exclusively in bars and
restaurants in Lunag Prabang
18 November 2014: Bus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng
19 November 2014: Vang Vieng
20 November 2014: Vang Vieng
Mekong
River view
Little
Heron flying up the Mekong
Mekong
River Cruise
The two day trip
down the Mekong was undoubtedly one of the highlights
of the entire trip. A wonderfully relaxed way to travel and to take in
the scenery along the majestic Mekong river. Good food, a bar and space
to kick back meant this was a trip to remember. Birds were relatively
thin on the ground but very far from absent - a number of species were
only seen during this part of the trip. One cannot stop and have
absolutely no control over how far away the birds are - but on the plus
side I soon had some extra "spotters" who helped me keep an eye out on
the river banks.
Children
playing and fishing
activity were the most common sight along the riverbanks. We
also
saw elephants and stopped at some tourist attractions
Pak
Beng quayside - our cruise boat is among those in the picture
Wire-tailed Swallow, Mekong, November 2014
The following field guide was the one I had with me - worked well
Highlights on this part of the trip were River Lapwings, Grey-headed
Plovers, Wire-tailed Swallow and Long-tailed Shrike. The commonest
species by far along
the river were White wagtail, Common Sandpiper and Blue Rock
Thrush. A variety of egrets and herons, Pied Kingfisher and
White-throated Kingfisher were among the other species seen along the
river.
River
Lapwing, Mekong, November 2014
Blue Rock Thrush, Mekong, November 2014
The cruise we took was the Shampoo
cruise
- highly recommended based on our experience. There were stops at
various attractions along the way. At Pak Beng (overnight stop on the
cruise) we stayed at the Mekong
Riverside Lodge.
Luang
Prabang
Luang Prabang is a wonderful town with some birding oporunities in the
park in the middle of town. We took a walk up the hill and ran into the
usual birding problem - obviously lots about but difficult to get onto
in the thick foliage. The original plan was to have more of a look
around here but my relatively innocent "beer o' clock" answer to the
question about what time it was led to an extremely enjoyable all day
pub crawl. I did, however, manage to photograph a number of species
from bar stools and restuarant tables - including the only Asian Brown
Flycatcher I saw along with Brown Shrikes, Yellow-browed Warblers etc
Above
and below: Views in Luang Prabang, pictures taken with a mobile phone
Sunset
over the Mekong, Lunag Prabang, picture taken with a 400mm telephoto
lens from a bar stool
The only negative experience here was the sale-for-release of Munias
which were held in pitifully small cages.
Asian
Brown Flycatcher, Luang Prabang, Laos, November 2014
Picture taken during what can only be called a pub-crawl around Luang
Prabang
Brown Shrike, Luang Prabang, November 2014
Another good bird from the pub crawl
Yellow-browed Warbler, Luang Prabang, November 2014
One of the commonest species in both Thailand
and Laos and another result from the pub-crawl
Vang
Vieng:
The trip from
Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng was by bus. This trip was overbooked and
people had to sit in the aisles - based on reports from others this is
something that is not unusual. The roads were very twisty and in a
state of disrepair after the rainy season - I would certainly think
twice before taking this route if one is prone to travel sickness and /
or have small infants as part of the group. The scenery we drove
through was nothing short of incredible. I glimpsed a number of
birds, inlcuding a nice raptor but never managed to get anywhere with
identification during this trip.
Dusky
Warbler, Vang Vieng, Laos, November 2014
Another relatively common species in both Thailand
and Laos
Red-rumped Swallow, Vang Vieng, Laos, November 2014
Good numbers of Red-rumped Swallows were seen from the hotel teraace
each afternoon - seemed like these may have been migrant birds
follwoing the river / valley southwards.
Sooty-headed Bulbul, Vang Vieng, Laoe, November 2014
Another of the most widespread species in both Thailand
and Laos
Vang Vieng is a lovely town/village surrounded by spectacular
countryside. One of the things we did here was "tubing" down the river.
This was enjoyable in its own right but was frustrating in one way for
me - I could hear and sometimes see birds virtually all the time but
without binoculars or camera had to make do with identifying only a
limited number of "safe" species such as Kingfisher and Taiga
Flycatcher. Thankfully it was also
possible to drink cold beers whilst drifting down the river....
The
many caves in the area are popular with tourists
Paddyfields on the outskirts of Vang Vieng - these fields were full of
birds such as Stonechats, Paddyfield Pipit and Zitting Cisticola
Part of the hotel grounds, Vang VIeng, Laos
The countryside around Vang Vieng seemed to be quite productive (at
least away from the most touristy of the attractions). Species seen
here included Paddyfield Pipit, Stonechats, Scaly-breated Munia, Dusky
Warbler and Zitting Cisticola alongside the more common Chinese Pond
Heron, Sooy-headed Bulbul, Red-rumped Swallow etc.
Our base at Vang Vieng was the superb Riverside
Boutique
Resort. Definitely
recommended for those wanting something a bit more special!
Sunset
from our hotel balcony, Vang Vieng, Laos, November 2014
Two
essential books for Laos:
Birding the Mekong - birding as it should be!
Other Wildlife:
Some small bats, plenty of geckos, lots of wonderful butterflies (just
like Thailand) and some amazingly large spiders.
This enormous spider had made its web outside our hotel door in Pak Beng
