Photography tour in Vietnam and Cambodia
Highlights
Saigon | Mekong Boat Cruises | Floating Markets | Xe Quit | Can Tho | Phnom Penh Street Life & Local Markets | Killing Fields & S21 | Silk Island | Siem Reap | Angkor Wat Sunrise | Beng Melea Temple | Tonle Sap Lake | Floating Villages of the Sangkar River | Battambang Tuk-tuk tourDescription of Photography tour in Vietnam and Cambodia
Our Images of Indochina tour is an enthralling and highly varied 16-day photography tour of Vietnam and Cambodia accompanied by a professional travel photographer.The tour covers all the photographic bases in this fascinating and evocative region from the bustling markets and street-life of Saigon and Phnom Penh through the picturesque myriad waterways of the lush Mekong Delta, the unique floating villages and river life of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap to the stunning world heritage temples of Angkor. The enigmatic ruined cities and mysterious carvings clad in creepers and jungle are certainly one of Asia’s most exotic and photogenic destinations.
As usual with our photography tours, the emphasis is on everyday life; village and rural scenes, hidden backstreets and colourful local markets as well as the famous and iconic sights and on a natural style of travel photography based on genuine interaction with the local people you’ll meet along the way.
Our professional travel photographers are highly experienced as well as coming with in-depth local knowledge of this region. Beginners and keen amateurs will receive hands-on technical assistance and tips while for the budding pros, we’ll endeavour to get you to the right place at the right time. Advice on travel photography in this specific region, as well as more, generally will be offered while you’ll also cover aspects such as image post-production and editing. Our small group sizes also mean greater flexibility in terms of timing and itinerary.
A fascinating and rewarding photography tour of the landscapes, people, culture and history of this exciting region.
Features:
1. Hands-on photographic assistance and advice from one of our experienced professional travel photographers
2. Visit the colourful markets, street-life, pagodas and sites of vibrant and fascinating Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
3. Explore the picturesque Mekong Delta: a labyrinth of waterways and islands with traditional villages and cottage industries
4. Explore incredible Angkor; ruined temples in the jungle, where flocks of parrots & troops of monkeys dart between mysterious stone carvings
5. Spectacular boat trip across the Tonle Sap lake and up the Sangkar River via the unique, floating fishing villages
6. Discover the timeless and picturesque Cambodian countryside; emerald rice paddies, traditional stilt houses, ox carts and village life
Optional extensions
1. 4-day tour including quaint colonial Kampot, the picturesque seaside town of Kep, Rabbit Island and the rarely-visited Angkor temples of Takeo Province
2. Follow your tour with a few days’ quality ‘R and R’ on a tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand
Note groups sizes are 2 to a maximum of 10 persons with certain meals (local-style) included and accommodation in boutique-style 3* hotels.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates, prices & availability
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

Please note that all group sizes are between 2 and 12 persons. Groups are accompanied at all times by a professional photographer and one or more local guides. All transportation is organized by local operators and using local drivers. We feel that our ‘discreet’ group sizes lead to less impact both on the environment and the people that we visit as well as allowing for more supervision, advice and explanations with the high ratio of guides/tour-leader to clients.
The Overland crossing (by boat) from Vietnam into Cambodia is only recently opening up so tourists are being introduced to many small towns and communities new to Western tourism. In the Mekong Delta, we encourage visits to local community craft and cottage industry - the brick works is a revelation. We also visit a plant nursery, a family rice paper business, and blacksmiths workshops.
In Cambodia, too, through our regular visits to sites (and if present souvenir shops) we help sustain local businesses and enterprises, such as the handicraft school for handicapped persons in Siem Reap, to the ‘land-mine museum’ in Siem Reap where we help support the organizer’s mine clearance operations through donations.
Information: Providing suitable, relevant information for our customers; to help them to gain a wider understanding of our style of tourism that focuses on learning, genuine interaction with the local communities, reciprocity and cultural exchange processes. To be aware of the potential impact of tourism on the local society, culture and environment, and to behave and dress appropriately with a respect and appreciation for local customs, mores and traditions and a respect for the ecology of areas visited. Our guides and leaders thus facilitate communication of our values to both travellers and local communities, educating them in sustainable tourism practices
Group sizes: By limiting groups to small sizes we aim to reduce the impact on both local communities and the environment whilst allowing for greater genuine interaction with said communities. It also results in a higher guide/customer ratio thus greater facility for supervision and individual assistance and allows us to use smaller hotels and restaurants and employ the services of more genuinely ‘local’ operators perhaps not otherwise well equipped for larger groups.
Destinations: We combine the well known tourist sites with many off-the-beaten-track, rarely visited destinations thus diverting tourist revenue and contact with responsible tourism into areas not usually benefiting as well as providing a more authentic view of the region visited.
The Impacts of this Trip
Local products: As much as possible we aim to employ local personnel, (guides, drivers, agents etc), use local restaurants and smaller privately owned accommodation. Customers are also encouraged to buy and use local products and services as much as possible in order to support and stimulate the local economy.
Instruction: By explaining our methods and the reasons behind them local agents, guides and hotels are encouraged by us to adopt further responsible tourism practices themselves and guides and drivers are provided with additional training in this respect.


Please note that all group sizes are between 2 and 12 persons. Groups are accompanied at all times by a professional photographer and one or more local guides. All transportation is organized by local operators and using local drivers. We feel that our ‘discreet’ group sizes lead to less impact both on the environment and the people that we visit as well as allowing for more supervision, advice and explanations with the high ratio of guides/tour-leader to clients.
The Overland crossing (by boat) from Vietnam into Cambodia is only recently opening up so tourists are being introduced to many small towns and communities new to Western tourism. In the Mekong Delta, we encourage visits to local community craft and cottage industry - the brick works is a revelation. We also visit a plant nursery, a family rice paper business, and blacksmiths workshops.
In Cambodia, too, through our regular visits to sites (and if present souvenir shops) we help sustain local businesses and enterprises, such as the handicraft school for handicapped persons in Siem Reap, to the ‘land-mine museum’ in Siem Reap where we help support the organizer’s mine clearance operations through donations.
Information: Providing suitable, relevant information for our customers; to help them to gain a wider understanding of our style of tourism that focuses on learning, genuine interaction with the local communities, reciprocity and cultural exchange processes. To be aware of the potential impact of tourism on the local society, culture and environment, and to behave and dress appropriately with a respect and appreciation for local customs, mores and traditions and a respect for the ecology of areas visited. Our guides and leaders thus facilitate communication of our values to both travellers and local communities, educating them in sustainable tourism practices
Group sizes: By limiting groups to small sizes we aim to reduce the impact on both local communities and the environment whilst allowing for greater genuine interaction with said communities. It also results in a higher guide/customer ratio thus greater facility for supervision and individual assistance and allows us to use smaller hotels and restaurants and employ the services of more genuinely ‘local’ operators perhaps not otherwise well equipped for larger groups.
Destinations: We combine the well known tourist sites with many off-the-beaten-track, rarely visited destinations thus diverting tourist revenue and contact with responsible tourism into areas not usually benefiting as well as providing a more authentic view of the region visited.

The Impacts of this Trip
Local products: As much as possible we aim to employ local personnel, (guides, drivers, agents etc), use local restaurants and smaller privately owned accommodation. Customers are also encouraged to buy and use local products and services as much as possible in order to support and stimulate the local economy.
Instruction: By explaining our methods and the reasons behind them local agents, guides and hotels are encouraged by us to adopt further responsible tourism practices themselves and guides and drivers are provided with additional training in this respect.

3 Reviews of Photography tour in Vietnam and Cambodia
Reviewed on 04 Jan 2020 by Paul Stratford
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Just everything about the tour, the people and places visited.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Be prepared for the temperature, humidity if you are not someone who is accustomed to hot weather and be prepared to get up early to make the most of the day.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Not particularly, although it does provide some employment for local guides and drivers.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Overall it was excellent, the one photograph that I wanted most, the Angkor Wat eluded me, but was more than made up for by the thousands of other pictures
that the massed crowds at Angkor Wat did not get. The hotels and organisation were generally very good, the odd shortcomings are really not worth
mentioning.
Reviewed on 29 Nov 2017 by Julie Andrade
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
When I first saw Angkor Wat for the first time.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Phnom Phenh, Siem Reap, and Saigon are the places with really big touristy markets. If you're looking for the touristy souvenirs, ensure you get your shopping there. Laundry services are cheap and available at many hotels. No need to bring tons of clothes, can just get them washed during the trip. Clothing at touristy markets super cheap, also just buy new clothes. Many cooking classes offered in cities you'll be visiting, if you have free time and love the food, definitely an activity for consideration.
Tipping local guides, drivers, etc. isn't required, but definitely nice to do if you appreciated their service. Ensure to budget money for this.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
A small amount in tourism dollars. Many many bottles of water were consumed during this trip, which I hope were all recycled. Money paid to temples and tourist sites I assume (hope) go towards conserving these historical sites.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Amazing. A definite must go destination. One gets a new point of view when the focus of the trip is photography. Get to visit sites when lighting is amazing and local guides know when and where to go to get amazing shots. Our photographer, Gary Lantham, was very informative and there to help whenever we needed. I really benefited from all the tips and instructions I received on this trip.
Reviewed on 10 Mar 2017 by Helen Smith
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
All parts were memorable and the pagodas and temples were amazing.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Street photography is easy here. Most people are friendly and don't mind you taking their pictures. Take 100% Deet mosquito repellent my 50% Deet didn't
stop the bites.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes as we were able to contribute in a small way to conservation when purchasing handmade goods from craft centres such as the Water Hyacinth Project.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and highly recommend it as I had a brilliant experience. This was helped along by our excellent photographer guide, Jeff, and the local guides. What an adventure!
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