Vietnam and Cambodia's Top 13 Places for Photography

In Vietnam
01: Halong Bay – Wonder of Nature
The Vietnam's number one tourist attraction, Halong covers an area of 1,969 square km with over 2 thousand rock formation. The new design of luxury Halong Cruises offers tourists the comfort for their trip cruising on the bay. Travelers could join some activities as kayaking to some hidden caves  and gain closer look to the local people 's life, hiking the mountains there for better panorama view or simply relax on the sundeck..

02: Sapa – Hill Station Town and Hilltribes
Sapa, is a frontier town and capital of Sa Pa District in the Lao Cai province in northwest Vietnam. It was first inhabited by people we know nothing about. They left in the entire valley hundreds of petroglyphs, mostly composed of lines, which experts think date from the 15th century and represent local cadastres. Then came the highland minorities of the Hmong and Yao. The town is one of the main market ones in the area, where several ethnic minority groups such as Hmong, Dao (Yao), Giay, Pho Lu, and Tay live. groups, as well as by smaller numbers of Tày and Giay. These are the four main minority groups still present in Sa Pa district today. The Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) never originally colonised this highest of Việt Nam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 m), the highest peak in the country.
Travellers get to Sapa by drive ( 11 hours drive from Hanoi) or by Train ( mostly by night train , 9 hours journey). The train is pretty confortable if you book the soft sleep cabin or 4 berths or 2 berths. The 4 days joury to Sapa from Hanoi is good to discover Sapa.

03: Old Quater of Hanoi – City over 1000 Years
The city is located on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi - the Capotal City of Vietnam - is located at 1,760 km (1,090 mi) north of Ho Chi Minh City and at 120 km (75 mi) west of Hai Phong city. October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city

Inside Hanoi
Spot #1: Hoan Kiem Lake
Apart from being a renowned attraction in Hanoi with the Turtle Tower serenely surrounded by the bluish water and deep blue sky, Hoan Kiem Lake is also a favorite spot for photographers. With 1.7 kilometers of pavements filled with freshly green trees running along its circumference, the place makes itself being a vividly colorful background to take photographs with. And when the sun goes down, sparkling lights on the trees will sparkle just for photographers to catch such precious moment on the verge of the sky turning twilight.

Spot # 2: Long Bien Bridge
Long Bien Bridge is not only famous for being a living historical relic but also for its great architecture designed by French architects from Daydé & Pillé. Therefore, photographers come here regularly to bring history in their photographs with the typically ancient brown of the past on the rust screws from the remaining spans. On the dry season, the alluvial patch below the bridge becomes an exceptionally photogenic spot with breathtaking natural scene filled with rows of green banana tress and yellow maize.

Spot # 3: Hanoi West Lake
The best time to visit West Lake, which is another wonderful spot for taking photographs, is during the summer when the brilliant lotuses paint a corner of the sky with bright pink and fresh green. Heading straight on West Lake’s lakeside road, you will eventually catch sights of pretty girls wearing all kinds of clothes from mini skirts to the traditional “Ao dai”, making the lotus pond being consistently lively. Specially, there is a whole service leasing equipments such as small boats, lotus bouquets and “Yem” (a unique ancient Vietnamese bodice) for photo shoots with reasonable prices

04: Ninh Binh – Halong Bay inland
Ninh Bình City is a tourist center with such attractions as Hoa Lu, Phat Diem Cathedral, Cuc Phuong, Tam Coc - Bich Dong, and the Bai Dinh Pagoda. Travel Vienam organize day trip to Ninh Binh from Hanoi. You could also get to Ninh Binh in the package 3 days of Hanoi, Ninh Binh & Halong Bay by Travel Vietnam.

05: Ha Giang – Kingdom of H’mong Flower
Hà Giang is a town located on the east bank of the Lô River in the Northeast region of Vietnam . It is the capital of Hà Giang Province. The town has an area of 168.7 km² and population of 40,000 inhabitants. Its top attrations: Dong Van Sunday market, Geo- Park, Rice terrace in Hoàng Su Phì

06: Mu Cang Chai
Mu Cang Chai is a district of Yen Bai province, about some 300 km north of Ha Noi, in the northeastern region of Vietnam. The place is home to the H'Mong and Thai community. Mù Cang Chải is a rural district (of Yen Bai province), in the northeastern Vietnam. in Mu Cang Chai there are many terraced fields (mainly for rice), creating amazing landscapes which stretch down the mountain sides.Wooden houses and guard boxes can be spotted between the terrace fields.
Main attraction: For the place being about 1000 meters above sea level, the steep hills make it almost impossible to grow rice fields like those in the delta. Thus local residences grow their own rice on the terraced fields, for the purpose of preventing water from flowing downhill. These terraced fields lying among rugged green moutain valleys, under clear blue sky or a mysterious and crips fog, bring to eyes an imposing scenery. During harvesting season, ready crops transitioned to yellow, while new crops still remain in their green color. The scenery is a big attraction to photographer and trekkers.

07: Bac Son Valley - The Green Paradise on the Earth!
Bac Son valley is located in the heart of the rural district of Bac Son. This valley rely heavily on agriculture. Only 160 km from Hanoi to the northeast, Bac Son Valley has everything to become one exciting destination for tourists from all parts of the world. It meets the needs of different travel such as understanding the local culture and life of ethnic minorities, learn methods of rice cultivation and horticulture farmers, scenic hiking , trekking, bicycling... Well positioned Bacson creates a great combination  of the valley itself and the surrounding landscapes to offer tourists more interesting and enjoyable adventures

Bac Son valley has become a source of interest for the tourists because of its enticing beauty. The easiest way to reach this valley is by taking a road trip from Hanoi using the Highway 3 to Thai Nguyen and turning to National Highway 1B. There are many tourist organizations as well that can help you and will give you all the relevant information that you might need. Make sure that you visit this enchanting valley of beauty. Seeing such a beautiful place will make you realize that Mother Nature has so much to offer. Moreover, there is too much to explore in this beautiful world so don\'t just sit and stare. Plan your trip to Vietnam's Bac Son Valley right away.

08: Ban Gioc Waterfall
Ban Gioc Waterfall – the largest one in Vietnam - is now an attractive beauty spot for local and international visitors. Travelling some 380 km from Hanoi, you will reach this splendid fall...
Ban Gioc Waterfall on the Quy Xuan River is located in Cao Bang Province, near the Sino-Vietnamese border. The waterfall falls thirty meters. It is separated into three falls by rocks and trees, and the thundering effect of the water hitting the cliffs can be heard kilometers away from Trung Khanh.
Water from Quy Xuan River falling down on the stone creates water droplets columns that can be seen from a distance. The temperature near the waterfall is remarkably cool, due to the water mist in the air. At the foot of the waterfall is a large river, as calm as glass, surrounded by many precious kinds of flowers. Ban Gioc Fall is famous for a famous fish named “tram huong”. In the early 1920s, French people started building cottages on the river banks. They would come here to relax, fish for “tram huong”, and hunt deer.

09: Hoian – Ancient Town
About 25km (15 miles) southeast of Da Nang and near the coast, the ancient town Hoi An nestlese on the banks of the Thu Bon River, a few kilometres inland from the coast. This charming old town was once a flourishing port and meeting place of East and West, in what was centrel Dai Viet under the Nguyen lords. Hoi An appeared in western travelogues in the 17th and 18th centuries as Faifo or Hai Po. Originally a sea port in the Champa kingdom and known as Dai Chien, by the 15th century it had become a coastal Vietnamese town under the Tran dynasty.
At the beginning of the 16th Century, the Portuguese came to explore the coast of Hoi An. Then came the Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, British and French. With them came the first missionaries - Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish. Among them was Alexander of Rhodes, who adopted the Roman alphabet for the Vietnamese language.

For several centuries, Hoi An was one of the most important trading ports in Southeast Asia and an important centre of cultural exchange between East and West. By the beginning of the 19th century, Hoi An's soical and physical environment had changed drastically. The conflict between the Trinh and Nguyen lords and the Tay Son caused Hoi An considerable damage. Moreover, rivers changed course as the mouth of the Thu Bon silted up and prevented the flow of sea traffic. Another port was built at the mouth of Song Han - Da Nang, replacing Hoi An as the centre of trade.

Today, Hoi An is a quiet town of about 120,000 people - 12,000 of them living in the old quarter that has been restored an renovated as something of a historical showpiece for tourists. Many of the older homes, buillt with wood beams, carved doors and airy, open rooms, have been turned into souvenir shops fronting as museums.

In the early 1980s, UNESCO and the Polish government took the initiative and funded a restoration programme to classify and safeguard Hoi An's ancient quarters and historic monuments. Unfortunately many of Hoi An's monuments are threatened by yearly floods (mainly between October and November) when water spills over the river banks and submerges some streets in two to three metres of water. Hoi An is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site (www.hoianworldheritage.org). An admission ticket of 75,000 dong gains you entry to all its old streets, one each of the three museums and assembly halls, one of the four old houses, a traditinal music concert and a temple. The sites are open daily from 7am to 6pm. Hoi An has become a popular tourist spot. In fact, older residents worry that the very thing that makes Hoi An attractive - its quiet charm - is being ruined. People will kindly invite visitors into their homes to look at the architecture, but some locals demand a donation. Today, in the old part of town, nearly 80 percent of the people derive their income from tourism. The rest of the residents work primarily as fishermen.

10:  Nha Trang
Nha Trang is well known for its beaches and scuba diving and has developed into a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers, as well as more affluent travellers on the Southeast Asia circuit; it is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists, with Nha Trang Bay widely considered as among the world's most beautiful bays. There is daily flight from hanoi or HCM City to Nha Trang. The Camranh airport in Nha Trang is about 1 hour drive to the City central.

11: Mui Ne - Phan Thiet
Mũi Né is a coastal resort town in the Binh Thuan Province of southeastern Vietnam. The town is close to the city of Phan Thiết. Tourism has transformed Mui Ne into a resort destination since 1995, when many visited to view the total solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. Mui Ne has many resorts on the beach, as well as restaurants, bars and cafes.
Travellers could get to Mui Ne by driving 5 hours from HCM City and some could take the train to the station 13 km from the beach

12: Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta known as "Nine Dragon river delta" is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of 39,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi).The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.
The Mekong Delta has recently been dubbed as a 'biological treasure trove'. Over 10,000 new species have been discovered in previously unexplored areas of Mekong Delta. Travel Vietnam offers day trip and 2 days trip to Mekong Delta from HCM City

In Cambodia
1. Ta Prohm Temple, Cambodia
Ta Prohm is a temple at the ancient city of Angkor located in nowadays Cambodia, Ta Prohm temple was built in the Bayon style close to the end of the 12th century.
Ta Prohm temple is different from the majority of Angkorian temples since it was not changed or renovated since it was found. The photogenic giant trees growing out of the rubble made it a very popular place to visit.

Ethnic Travel Consultants will provide you personal assistance every step of the way and send you itinerary suggestions and budget options for your private tours to these spots. Contact Us for more information and the best offers. Visit us at www.ethnicvoyage.com