| Angkor Photography Tours

8 Good Reasons to do a Photography Tour in South-East Asia

On September 18, 2017 / blog

Photography tours are becoming increasingly popular and are now available globally, with options to explore destinations ranging from Iceland to Antarctica, and from New York to Paris. These tours offer a combination of exploration and learning opportunities, making them suitable for both experienced photographers and beginners. They provide opportunities to discover new places and cultures, explore lesser-known locations, take amazing pictures and improve your photography skills.

South-East Asia offers a plethora of destinations for photography tours, including Siem Reap, gateway of the temples of Angkor (Cambodia), Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi (Vietnam), Yangon (Myanmar), Bali (Indonesia), Bangkok (Thailand).

In this post, we will examine eight compelling reasons for considering a photography tour during your next holiday in South-East Asia.

1.Improve your photography skills

A photography tour in South-East Asia is an ideal opportunity for even the most experienced photographers, including those specializing in sports, wildlife, or wedding photography, to improve their skills. The diverse range of locations and subjects available in South-East Asia offers endless photographic opportunities, many of which may be outside of your comfort zone. From capturing workers harvesting rice on paddy fields, ancient temples, to taking portraits in busy food markets, a photography tour in South-East Asia will challenge and inspire photographers of all levels.

Rice harvest at sunset in Hoi An Vietnam

Local market scene in the morning in Siem Reap Cambodia

2. Enjoy people photography

When living in South-East Asia we often take for granted that taking pictures of people is easy to do. Due to privacy concerns, it is almost impossible in the West except during large public events. In Asia, people often get into the game and even sometimes ask you to take pictures of them:)

Cute elderly couple in Hoi An Vietnam

Worker taking a break in a knife workshop in Siem Reap Cambodia

Two Cambodian women selling betel leaves in a local market in Siem Reap Cambodia

3- Photography Tours Asia: Discover a Country from a New Perspective

During a photo tour , you will be guided by a photographer who is always looking for new places and has been living in the area for many months or many years. This considerable asset will allow you to have access to some locations out of the beaten path which often are not available during a “normal” tour. Often, the photographer has develop some relations with locals, speak some of the language and this will be valuable in people photography. You might have access also to remote locations with tribes or be the witness some local Buddhist ceremonies.

siem reap photography tour kids running countryside

Kids plating in paddy fieds in Siem Reap Cambodia

Buddhist ceremony in a local monastery

Face-tattooed women in a remote village of Myanmar

4- Photography Tours Asia: Pushing the Boundaries of Your Photography Equipment

Sometime, at the end of a tour, it happens that some guests decide to upgrade their camera system or buy new lenses. Whether you have a entry level camera, you will test the limit of your equipment: shooting a low lights with moving subjects in some festivals or in markets with dimmed lights. You might no get also the nice bokeh you were expecting in your portraits. Common purchases are wide angle lenses to do architecture shots or a portrait lens.

Khmer family going around the main tower of Angkor Wat temple

Angkor Wat under a starry sky before sunrise

5- Meet like-minded people

If you take part in a photography tour with a small group of people especially for few days, it is likely that you will a blast together, keep in touch and maybe even do another trip together in the future. For many people, a photo tour remains the highlight of their trip in Asia.

6- For beginners, a quick way to improve your photography

Many people start learning photography by taking theoretical courses in a classroom with little or no practice. During a photography tour, a lot of the time is spent on hands-on practice and because of on many different situations encountered during the day (sunrise/sunset, low light, portraits,architecture shots), you are most likely to make long lasting improvement on your photography. You will look after very differently at the triangle of exposure:)

Silk farm in Siem Reap Cambodia

Bamboo forest with shining sun in Siem Reap Cambodia

7- Get to the best locations with the best light

Photography is all about light and when exploring a new place, knowing the best photographic spots with the best light is very difficult even after some prior extensive research online. Depending on the destination (cities, archeological parks, national parks), it can take months to know the best shooting locations and the best angles. Even if seasons are not marked so much in South-East Asia, there is an impact photography. In Angkor Wat temple for example, the path of the sun is drastically different between June and December making shots very different depending on the season.

During the monsoon, your photography leader will guide you around the locations to get those nice reflection shots.

Panoramic view of Bayon temple in Angkor Thom Cambodia with water reflection. Bayon temple was built late 12th century by Jayavarman VII.

Beautiful devatas carvings in the temple of Angkor Wat Siem Reap Cambodia at sunrise

8- Go back home with great pictures

Because you have being in the right locations with the best light, and had guidance during your shots, you will be sure to go back home with the best pictures of your holidays. Why not make a coffee table book of your best pictures to show your friends and plan together your next photographic adventures?

The lost Temples of Mrauk-U in Myanmar

On June 14, 2017 / Myanmar

Mrauk-U is a relatively unknown and probably the most underrated archeological site in South-East Asia. It is located in the western state of Rakhine in Myanmar (Burma). Rakhine state is a narrow strip of land bordered on the Bay of Bengal on the west and by Bangladesh on the north.

Mrauk-U has an interesting landscape as it sits on a valley with numerous mounds and interconnected creeks, moats, canals and artificial lakes.

Founded in 1430 A.D, Mrauk-U became after Launggret the center of the powerful Arakan Empire for more than 300 years until 1785 and an important cultural and commercial hub.

Mrauk-U, named the “Golden City” by early Europeans (Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch) traders and missionaries who the center of trade for elephants, rice. It is also known as the fortress city due to its 30 kilometers of fortifications built around it.It is also called Little Bagan because it has pagoda and temples.

Mrauk-U archaeological site is centered on the old palace and divided in four main groups: western, eastern, southern and northern, the latter being the most important. You can buy a 5000 Kyats pass (less than USD 4) for the temples at Mrauk U, sold at the Shittaung Pagoda.

The temples of Mrauk-U are not as impressive as the ones in Bagan, but their beauty are hidden: you can stroll for hours inside them looking at colored carvings . You can have also many temples by yourself and with some tenacity found new ones which are not on the map. As locals are living within the ruins, you will have many opportunities to interact with them and take beautiful portraits.

The most popular temples in Mrauk-U are Kothaung temple (also called the little Borodudur), Andaw temple

In his last visit to Mrauk-U in december 2016, Kofi Annan (who sits on the advisory commission on Rakhine state) strongly advocated for Mrauk-U’ UNESCO World Heritage Status.

There is no direct flight from Yangon at the moment and the construction of the new airport is being halted due the lack of funding. The only way to get to Mrauk-U is by a 4 to 5 hours scenic ferry ride on the Kalandan river from the city of Sittwe, by bus or private car. With only 4,000 visitors in the temples of Mrauk-U in 2016, you are sure to have most of the temples for yourself.

If you enjoyed exploring the other archeological sites in South-East Asia (Angkor, Bagan, Borodudur,Sukhothai, Ayutthaya) it is time to go to Mrauk-U before it gets its fame back. Temples are best explored by bicycle or by foot especially the ones in the Northern group, but to move between all the groups it is recommended to have a private transport.

Sunset with some of the temples of Mrauk-U

One of the many beautiful temples of Mrauk-U

Buddha statues inside Andaw Thein temple

Stone carving in Shittaung Pagoda

Beautiful carved wall inside Shittaung temple

Enigmatic Buddha in the temples of Mrauk U

The amazing interior of Koe-Thaung temple

Young burmese girls in the temples of Mrauk-U with Thanaka

Local woman going back home at the sunset

Old Colonial Architecture in Yangon Myanmar

On April 25, 2017 / blog, Myanmar

Yangon is the city with the highest density of colonial buildings in South East Asia. Known as Rangoon, it was the capital of Burma between 1824 and 1948 and one of the province of the British India Empire. It witnessed a rich architectural development during this period following different styles: Art Deco, Edwardian, Victorian and British-Burmese.

Many buildings were built for Scottish companies like Burmah oil, Brothers & Co, A. Scott&Co, Messrs Bulloch Brothers & Co to name a few which operated successful businesses in oil, import/export of commodities, shipbuildings, etc…

Natural disasters (the earthquake of 1930, cyclone Nargis in 2008) and the bombings of Word War II inflicted severe damages to the city and many buildings were lost forever.

The isolation of the country for 50 years after the military coup of 1962 did not help. With all these events, it is actually surprising that so many colonial buildings are still standing today. In 2005, many government offices were moved to the new capital Naypyidaw, about 350 km north of Yangon and definitely closed.

Nowadays, many large colonial buildings are occupying downtown, along Merchand and Strand roads, and also on Pansodan street. Some of them have been renovated like Aya bank headquarters, City Hall or the Strand Hotel, a famous five stars built in 1901.

This photo essay is focusing on the beautiful and neglected colonial buildings which will either disappear or being restored in the coming years.

Because of safety concerns some places such as the Pegu Club are not open to the general public anymore. Some others, like the secretariat building, are under renovation.
Entering a neglected colonial building in Yangon is like taking a time machine and one cannot help wondering how it was back then when these places were home of powerful trading houses, banks or offices.

Nowadays, small business offices are sometime occupying premises and bring some life to these places. Some private buildings have interiors in fairly good condition and can be accessed after of course seeking the authorization from the owner.

The state of disrepair of some buildings is such that trees start growing on the walls and entire structures have collapsed.

You can spend hours wandering in the streets of Yangon looking for unlocked buildings. It is not uncommon while exploring these locations that a friendly local gives you a bit of history about the places, they understand their potential to attract tourists interested in colonial architecture.

Founded in 2012, the Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT), has for goal to identify and preserve colonial architecture in Yangon. YHT installed blue plaques on buildings with historical significance to raise awareness among the public, the first one was installed in 2014 at the City Hall.

In 2017, Yangon is at a crossroad and time will tell if authorities in charge manage to save this unique architectural heritage in South-East Asia.