Macaque In Khao Yai National Park

[macnmotion]

Hi. First the question: Can anyone point me to the most interesting and beautiful photographic opportunities in the Khao Yai/Pak Chong region? I'm there frequently. I spent just an hour or so in Khao Yai National Park and will go back, and would love to know where the best areas are in the park. Also, are there any interesting hiking trails or views? Any direction will be much appreciated.

Here is a Macaque from Khao Yai National Park. macnmotion

[svenivan]

Great shot ! Very sharp! Maybe cropped a litle tight.

So what camera and lens did you use?

[lemerou]

Great picture !

The exposure and the colors are great.

Maybe i would have left more space on the right and less on the left (because that's the direction he's looking at).

[Goshawk]

Can anyone point me to the most interesting and beautiful photographic opportunities in the Khao Yai/Pak Chong region?

too many to choose from.. but the Wrinkle-lipped Bat Roost (thousands of them fly out of a cave every evening resembling a twisting turning tube of smoke) a few km's before the Park gates is certainly a challenging spectacle to capture well.

..as for the trails, everything you could ever want to know is here

nice macaque pic btw..

[wineman]

Hi macnmotion,

Ditto lemerou's comments. However, IMHO cropped to close to the top of its head.

Edited January 5, 2011 by wineman

[macnmotion]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Goshawk, I'm reviewing the link you sent, thanks. As for the bats, last year I saw something similar on Koh Samet from a distance. It was an amazing sight but I struggled in figuring out how to photograph it in the waning light. My photos came out less than stellar!!

FYI, the macaque photo here was taken with a Canon 5DII w 70-200 F2.8L + Canon 2X Extender. The monkey was so close that I was zoomed out as far as I could and had no more room to move backward! So there was no cropping from a wider angle photo, this is just how I captured it. I'm afraid that in such a situation when I feel hurried, I don't have the experience to "crop" perfectly looking through the lens. On the bright side, there is enough data in the original to print out a giant poster!!

Thanks again. Still planning on the National Park in Feb.

[macnmotion]

Hi again,

Can anyone please give me driving directions on exactly where to go to photograph the bats as they depart the cave? I'm planning to go today (Monday). Thanks. macnmotion

[macnmotion]

Well I had quite an adventure. We drove to Kilo marker 22 just outside Khao Yai National Park and started asking people where to see the bats. Everyone told us something different. We turned onto a dirt road next to a temple, drove in about 1 kilo and found a home. The mother told us we could watch the bats from her yard, but she asked if we wanted to hire her daughter to guide us toward a better viewing spot. We ended up taking a 20 minute trail hike followed by a 25 minute rock climb, and ended up right outside the mouth of the cave!! 10 minutes later the first of the bats began to emerge, and soon a constant flood rushed out just 3 meters from me!!

It was an amazing experience. I shot video with my Canon 5D Mark II, and when I'm back in BKK I will upload and post a link here! Thanks for pointing out this opportunity...today is a day I will never forget!!

macnmotion

[Goshawk]

Well I had quite an adventure. We drove to Kilo marker 22 just outside Khao Yai National Park and started asking people where to see the bats. Everyone told us something different. We turned onto a dirt road next to a temple, drove in about 1 kilo and found a home. The mother told us we could watch the bats from her yard, but she asked if we wanted to hire her daughter to guide us toward a better viewing spot. We ended up taking a 20 minute trail hike followed by a 25 minute rock climb, and ended up right outside the mouth of the cave!! 10 minutes later the first of the bats began to emerge, and soon a constant flood rushed out just 3 meters from me!!

It was an amazing experience. I shot video with my Canon 5D Mark II, and when I'm back in BKK I will upload and post a link here! Thanks for pointing out this opportunity...today is a day I will never forget!!

macnmotion

thought you might like it.. its an awesome sight, as you now know.

must have been a really impressive sight to be that close to the cave entrance, i've only seen the spectacle from the road & surrounding fields, where I made no attempt to photo them flying out (didn't have the correct gear at the time) but i did once snap the cave entrance pre-bat emergence..

in the pic, the dark cave entrance can be seen more or less in the middle.. I might try the 'rock scramble' myself next time.

look forward to seeing your video footage

[IanForbes]

Well I had quite an adventure. We drove to Kilo marker 22 just outside Khao Yai National Park and started asking people where to see the bats. Everyone told us something different. We turned onto a dirt road next to a temple, drove in about 1 kilo and found a home. The mother told us we could watch the bats from her yard, but she asked if we wanted to hire her daughter to guide us toward a better viewing spot. We ended up taking a 20 minute trail hike followed by a 25 minute rock climb, and ended up right outside the mouth of the cave!! 10 minutes later the first of the bats began to emerge, and soon a constant flood rushed out just 3 meters from me!!

It was an amazing experience. I shot video with my Canon 5D Mark II, and when I'm back in BKK I will upload and post a link here! Thanks for pointing out this opportunity...today is a day I will never forget!!

macnmotion

What a marvellous experience! It was case of seek and you shall fnd. Good for you in doing the research. :jap:

[macnmotion]

Here is a link to the video. I wish I could take video as well as I can photograph, but still the experience outweighs the technique! Good thing I didn't try to take a tripod with me, I would never have made it up the climb.

There was a makeshift encampment outside the cave where many locals and tourists must go for this event. Bottles of water, lots of trash, even a viewing platform. Unfortunately this takes away somewhat from the natural beauty of the emergence. There is really no angle to shoot without including some of this manmade stuff.

Thanks again for all the help in this thread!

[macnmotion]

For anyone interested in finding this cave:

The cave is located several kilometers outside of Khao Yai National park. I was told to go to Kilo Marker 22 on Thanarat Road (2090) (the main road leading into the Park from the North) and ask the locals, which is exactly what I did. We found a dirt soi immediately next to a Temple on the West side of Thanarat Road. Directly across the street is a karaoke bar. We drove along the dirt road, curving left and then right, and came to a home where we hired a girl named Woon to guide me to the cave. The several-kilo hike and climb took about 45 minutes and we arrived just in time for the emergence. I recommend allowing an hour or more to make the trek, it would be a shame to get close but not arrive in time. Bring a flashlight for the climb back down, it's pretty dark under the canopy. This can be a pretty challenging trek (especially the climb) so keep that in mind.

macnmotion