Vietnam Photography Tour

Day 1: Hanoi arrival – Sunset at Tran Quoc pagoda (Meal: No)

Day 2: Hanoi – Mu Cang Chai (Meal: B/L/D)

Day 3: Mu Cang Chai (Meal: B/L)

Day 4: Mu Cang Chai – Hanoi (Meal: B/L)

Day 5: Hanoi – Flower market in the early morning - incense village – evening flight to Hoi An (Meal: B)

Day 6: Hoi An ancient town – Fishing & Lantern village - Sunset boat trip on Thu Bon river (Meal: B)

Day 7: Hoi An - drive to Phu Yen (Stop on the way to visit Sa Huynh Salt fields in Quang Ngai province & Minh Hai fishing village in Quy Nhon) (Meal: B)

Day 8: Phu Yen (Meal: B)

Day 9: Phu Yen – Khanh Hoa – sunset photos at Hon Khoi Salt Field – Doc Let beach (Meal: B)

Day 10: Khanh Hoa – Drive to Phan Rang – Thap Cham (Meal: B)

Day 11: Phan Rang – Thap Cham – Drive to Da Lat (Meal: B)

Day 12: Da Lat - Pongour Waterfall - evening flight to Sai Gon (Meal: B)

Day 13: Sai Gon – Long An (Water lily pond) – Chau Doc (Meal: B)

Day 14: Chau Doc – Floating market - Sai Gon (Meal: B/D)

Day 15: Sai Gon departure (Meal: B).

Arrival at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, collect your luggage process through custom. Our tour guide and driver will be waiting for you outside the baggage claim/customs area to transfer you in a private vehicle to the hotel downtown.

We start a city tour of Hanoi, visit:

• Long Bien bridge
• The Ho Chi Minh complex, including the One Pillar Pagoda, the former leader’s house on stilts and his Mausoleum.
• Thang Long Citadel (the most recent UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vietnam), built in the 11th century by the Ly Viet Dynasty, marking the independence of the Dai Viet (former Vietnam)
• The peaceful Temple of Literature - the first university of Vietnam.
• Transfer to West Lake for sunset photos at Tran Quoc Pagoda, known as the oldest pagoda in the city, originally constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam De.

Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi .

7:00: Pick up from your hotel and depart from Hanoi to Mu Cang Chai (distance: 285 km), following no.32 road. On the way, you can enjoy some beautiful sightseeing, take photos, and stop at Thu Cuc tea plantation for a cup of tea.

12:00: Arrive in Nghia Lo town, Yen Bai province. Enjoy a lunch in a local restaurant, and then keep on driving up to Mu Cang Chai. We have a stop-over in Khau Pha Pass for taking beautiful photos of Lim Mong valley.

We continue driving about 40km to Ngoc Chien, located at an average altitude of 1,800 m above sea level. The climate here is compared to the year-round mild weather like Dalat. This beautiful and peaceful commune is the home of the Thai, Hmong, and La Ha ethnic groups who have many unique customs and habits, one of them is their naked bathing custom. In addition to the special identity of the locals, the other great factors that make Ngoc Chien attract more tourists annually are the natural hot mineral springs and the century-old stilted houses made of Pomu.

You will be welcomed by a local family, enjoy a warm meal with many local specialties such as Tao Meo wine, Tan sticky rice, grilled chicken, and grilled fish.

Dinner and overnight in Mu Cang Chai.

After breakfast, we drive up to Mu Cang Chai, the land of the most beautiful rice terraces in North Vietnam.

We make a stop along Khau Pha Pass for taking beautiful photos of Lim Mong valley.

When you arrive in Mu Cang Chai, you surely will be impressed by the jaw-dropping scenery of the terraced fields, the unique culture and traditional lifestyles of people living there.

Here are 500 ha of terraced fields in 3 communes: La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu, within the whole 2,000 ha terraced fields of the area. For years, Mu Cang Chai has become an ideal stop for all nature lovers and adventurous travelers.

Dinner and overnight in Mu Cang Chai.

Wake up early in the morning to enjoy the fresh mountain air.  After breakfast, we make a short walk to Tu Le Valley and Muong Bung village before we drive back to Hanoi.

Arrival at Hanoi in the afternoon.

Overnight at the hotel in Hanoi.

At 5:00 am, your tour guide will greet you at your hotel. From the hotel, we will travel by taxi to the famous Quang Ba flower market where hundreds of different kinds of flowers are being sold in bulk to local flower shop keepers.

Next, we will travel on foot and see the Old Quarter beginning to wake up. You will see street side markets preparing for the morning. We’ll make our way to Hoan Kiem Lake to witness, and maybe even take part in, people, young and old, exercising, doing tai chi, and jogging. As the sun rises, the light becomes perfect. We take every opportunity to snap some of the best photos of your trip!

Back to your hotel for breakfast, then we transfer to Quang Phu Cau Village in Ung Hoa District, 35 km south of downtown Hanoi, where families have been making incense for more than a century. The village always has brightly colored incense sticks stacked by its entrance. Every year just before or during the Tet Lunar New Year holiday in February, sales tick up. Throngs of people crowd into temples to light incense during worship, or burn the sticks on the ancestral altar at home. We walk around the village to hunt the most beautiful photos of the village, afterwards we return to Hanoi where you are free until transfer to the airport for your flight to Da Nang. Upon arrival, transfer to Hoi An.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Breakfast at the hotel.

This morning we take a walking tour along the old town of Hoi An. Hoi An is nestled on the banks of the Thu Bon River. We visit Hoi An’s central market, the Japanese covered bridge, the Phuc Kien assemble hall, the Phung Hung old house, the Hoi An museum and the Quan Cong temple. Then you will take a bicycle, or a car, to a lantern making workshop in the village. Here you will get a brief introduction to the history, the shape, and the color of the lanterns. Choose your favorite sample of lantern. We follow step by step the craftsman’s instructions how to make one lantern. We keep this lantern as a souvenir.

In the late afternoon, we depart by boat from Thu Bon wharf on Bach Dang Street. Our trip begins to sail along the major branch of the lower section of Thu bon river and we will enjoy the beautiful scenery along both sides of the rivers. We will see the local life which goes on gently at the late of the day, many boats bobbing on the waters – these will be interesting picture opportunities. The trip brings us further to Cua Dai estuary, coming up to Co Co river and heading for the Bay Mau nipa (water coconut tree) grove. We have a snack and make sure our cameras are close. Photo time!

Back to the hotel, free to explore the ancient town at night. One of the greatest pleasures of many visitors to Hoi An is strolling along the beautiful streets of the old town at night under the flickering lights of the ever present beautiful lanterns. These colorful lanterns are not only the symbol of Hoi An old town but also a part of the spirit of Hoi An.

Overnight in Hoi An.

Breakfast at the hotel.

We leave Hoi An in the early morning and head to Phu Yen province, about 340km from Hoi An. During the trip, you will have the opportunity to explore the Center of Vietnam with many peaceful villages, beautiful beaches, Sa Huynh salt fields. You will enjoy local specialties, Hai Minh fishing village in Quy Nhon for photo shooting the fishing men repairing their fishing nets.

Phu Yen has 189 Km of coastline with many pristine and beautiful lagoons, bays such as: Cu Mong Lagoon, O Loan Lagoon, Xuan Dai Bay, Vung Ro Bay. We will reach Phu Yen in the afternoon, we will visit Xuan Hai fishing village, located in Song Cau District in the northernmost part of the province. Nestled amid mountains, Xuan Hai is described by some as one of the most beautiful fishing villages in south central Vietnam (if it is too late for the fishing village in Phu Yen, we can move it to the next day).

Overnight in Phu Yen.

After breakfast, we journey north of Phu Yen to visit all the area attractions. The first stop is O Loan Lagoon. This brackish lagoon offers a picturesque scenery with golden sand dunes, sugar cane fields, and casuarina forests surrounded by the banks. After that, we visit the national landscape - "Ganh Da Dia" (Da Dia Reef) which means “Sea Cliff of Stone Plates” - a set of prismatic stones arranged together. The rocks are dark lava columns with roughly flat surfaces of different shapes - round, pentagon, hexagon, polygon... Ganh Da Dia looks like a gigantic beehive or pile of dinner plates, hence the name. Visit Bai Xep - one of the beautiful scenes in the film named "Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass" – which was named the winner of Young People's Jury Award – Best Feature Film at the 2016 TIFF Kids International Film Festival.

Continue on, we drive to Hon Yen island.

Depending on the months we visit, we will have an opportunity to take the photos of the beautiful coral reefs on land or the fisherman with nets at river during sunset.

Hon Yen island is another beautiful place in Phu Yen which attracts the photographers because of its beautiful coral reefs on land and crystal-clear blue water. When the tides recede on the island, you are able to savor the scenic views of coral reefs on the land. According to local fishmen, the tide only recedes in the afternoon of the first few days of the month or during the middle of the lunar month and lasts only for a few days. If you miss this, then they have to wait another 15 days to have the chance of seeing the coral reefs again. The Hon Yen landscape cluster was recognized as a national relic site in April 2018.

Sunrise photo shooting at the fishing village or Mui Dien or Mui Dai Lanh (Dai Lanh Cape). This is one of the first places on the mainland welcoming sunshine in Vietnam.

Drive back to the hotel for breakfast, then we drive to Khanh Hoa. Sunset photo shooting of Hon Khoi Salt fields. Hon Khoi Salt Fields are considered one of the largest salt fields in Vietnam with about 737,000 tons of salt every year. Shooting photos of the fishing man preparing nets in Nha Trang (if possible)

 If time permits, we will visit Doc Let beach for swimming, one of the most beautiful beaches in Nha Trang.

We continue our drive to Nha Trang city. Check in the hotel then free time at the leisure.

Overnight in Nha Trang.

Sunrise photo shooting at the fishing villages:

Enjoy the amazing view of Binh Tien – Vinh Hy bay on the way. Arrival at Phan Rang in the afternoon. Afternoon enjoy photo shooting of thousands of sheep going home and landscape photography at Hang Rai seascape.

We will enjoy this place until the sunset, then we go back to the city centre for check in your hotel in Phan Rang.

Overnight in Phan Rang.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Sunrise photo shooting with model “Nam Cuong Sand Dunes” and enjoy daily life photography at local fishing village.

Depart for Da Lat in the afternoon. Stop on the way for photo shooting of vineyards, the Cham brocade-weaving village, Po Klong Giarai towers, the Ngoan Muc pass, the Cau Dat tea farm, an Arabica coffee plantation.

Overnight in Da Lat.

Breakfast at the hotel.

In the morning, we leave the hotel for Pongour waterfalls, 50 km from Dalat city. These are of the biggest falls of the central highlands. Taking photos and enjoy the wild nature around the falls area. Visit incense making stall or mushroom farm in the thatched house, then back to Dalat.

Back to the city center, we enjoy airy space at Ro Bin Hill, Dalat Cable Car Station to get the panorama view of beautiful Dalat City and enjoy the marvelous sights of the pine forested valley stretched down to the South. After taking some photos of this, you have the option to take the cable car, descending 300 meters with the nice view of flower and vegetable fields dotted in the pine forested valley below.  We visit the Tuyen Lam Lake. Surrounding by pine forest, Tuyen Lam Lake looks like a paradise with the Truc Lam Zen Monastery. At present it is the biggest Zen University in Viet Nam.

In the late afternoon, we transfer to the airport for your flight to Sai Gon.

Overnight in Sai Gon.

Remark: The best time to take the photos of water lily flowers is around September to October.

Breakfast at the hotel, then we drive 58km to Long An. Enjoy photo shooting of water lily flowers, then we head to Vinh Long. We will have a boat ride on the Mekong river, visit local homes and orchards, a coconut candy workshop, a honeybee farm, we take a sampan ride on palm-shaded creeks, try a taste of seasonal fruit and honey tea.  Then we drive to Chau Doc. If time permits, on arrival at Chau Doc, we visit Sam Mountain for sunset, with its breathtaking views over rice paddies till the Cambodian border. It is also a chance to take great photos of the water lily pond.

Overnight in Chau Doc.

We visit Tra Su, getting to the wild bird’s sanctuary, where we cruise relaxed with small boats to discover the arrays of splendid canals deep into the forest. We watch storks, cranes and other tropical birds. Continue on; take the nice rowing boat trip through the floating village to visit the fish farm. We’ll see how the Mekong Delta people raise fish on their floating houses. Visit the Cham minority with their traditional weaving village, fish sauce market. Finally, we drive back to Sai Gon.

Overnight in Sai Gon.

We visit Tra Su, getting to the wild bird’s sanctuary, where we cruise relaxed with small boats to discover the arrays of splendid canals deep into the forest. We watch storks, cranes and other tropical birds. Continue on; take the nice rowing boat trip through the floating village to visit the fish farm. We’ll see how the Mekong Delta people raise fish on their floating houses. Visit the Cham minority with their traditional weaving village, fish sauce market. Finally, we drive back to Sai Gon.

Overnight in Sai Gon.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Free until transfer to the airport for your departure flight.

End of the trip!