Vietnam / Bali


Am planning for a trip to either Vietnam / Bali during End July OR Early Aug - Looking for travel mates. Just planning to head there to slack off the week; do some shoot of the places and people.

Hope I'm able to get some luck in search of peeps interested in here.
(ps. nothing is fix, so everything is Flexi)
 

Bali is fine with me. Never been there.
Would like to do a trek up a vocanic peak and capture the sunrise and sunset at differemt points of the island.
One thing ... getting air tickets at the last moment may not get a good deal.
Travel during the off peak season is better.

Early September to end October.
Do update me. Thxs.
 

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I will be visiting Vietnam (hanoi) in a couple of weeks. At first i thought of taking my EOS 7D along, but after reading some travellers' feedback on the country, I have decided not to do so. According to this traveller, one may get robbed and if you make a police report, all you get from them is a reply like, "Serves you right. You foreigners are stupid".
 

Bali is fine with me. Never been there.
Would like to do a trek up a vocanic peak and capture the sunrise and sunset at differemt points of the island.
One thing ... getting air tickets at the last moment may not get a good deal.
Travel during the off peak season is better.

Early September to end October.
Do update me. Thxs.

Late July prob not much of a travel peak, and for aug prob after mid of Aug :)


I will be visiting Vietnam (hanoi) in a couple of weeks. At first i thought of taking my EOS 7D along, but after reading some travellers' feedback on the country, I have decided not to do so. According to this traveller, one may get robbed and if you make a police report, all you get from them is a reply like, "Serves you right. You foreigners are stupid".

Well, I would say self-awareness; no where in any country is safe; even in Singapore - we have wedding photographers who get their camera bag stolen during the function :bigeyes:. Just have to practice safety /Straps across body /Hide your gadgets when not in use :thumbsup:
 

I will be visiting Vietnam (hanoi) in a couple of weeks. At first i thought of taking my EOS 7D along, but after reading some travellers' feedback on the country, I have decided not to do so. According to this traveller, one may get robbed and if you make a police report, all you get from them is a reply like, "Serves you right. You foreigners are stupid".

Wow, this seems to be an isolate case? You will miss out a lot if you did not bring your 7D. After all, one of the reason for owning a DSLR should be for travel right? ;)

You will be surprise Vietnam got a big group of photographer. And DSLR is no stranger to them.

As someone said, just be aware in any place of any country
 

thats funny, i've just been to bali and hanoi this year. aug will be swarmed with tourists for bali while i think if u like cool weather, dec - jan will be a better time to go hanoi.

A midget tried to pickpocket me in hanoi and he was really small so i couldn't see him at first but felt some tugging on my bag. thank god for lowepro flipside.

it cant be opened on the outside haha. so i told the bugger to piss off. just be careful on the streets of hanoi. hanoi outskirts are relatively safer but in general, hanoi is a pretty safe country to me.

btw, wont june be a wet season for hanoi?
 

Totally agree with Shen Siung. We were in Vietnam in Jan 2010 and we traveled from HCMC to Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue and back to HCMC (Mekong Delta etc) in a group of 8. We had 2 Canon 5Ds Mk II with 24-105 & 70-200 IS lenses and a couple of Nikons. It was a safe and sound trip, thus it was an isolated case, one can get robbed anywhere not only in Vietnam.`

It would be meaningless if you buy a good camera and dare not use during your travel. Just be mindfull and watch you equipment and look out for each other.
 

thats funny, i've just been to bali and hanoi this year. aug will be swarmed with tourists for bali while i think if u like cool weather, dec - jan will be a better time to go hanoi.

A midget tried to pickpocket me in hanoi and he was really small so i couldn't see him at first but felt some tugging on my bag. thank god for lowepro flipside.

it cant be opened on the outside haha. so i told the bugger to piss off. just be careful on the streets of hanoi. hanoi outskirts are relatively safer but in general, hanoi is a pretty safe country to me.

btw, wont june be a wet season for hanoi?

Well yeah its the wet season, but i'm not so bothered with such - Diff time of the year you'll probably get to see things differently under different circumstances :)
 

I just got back from HCMC and got a problem with tripod at Ho chi ming airport with hand carry. Happen to bump into a group of photographer too at the same flight. All tripod are rejected at the security..was told to check in. hmmz.. my tripod seem to suffer a smal dent after check in...but unsure when was it happen...
 

I just got back from HCMC and got a problem with tripod at Ho chi ming airport with hand carry. Happen to bump into a group of photographer too at the same flight. All tripod are rejected at the security..was told to check in. hmmz.. my tripod seem to suffer a smal dent after check in...but unsure when was it happen...
yea same problem in hanoi. have to check in. nearly miss my flight because they refused to give in.
 

yea same problem in hanoi. have to check in. nearly miss my flight because they refused to give in.


same as me..i run out jus to check in..and run in to collect back my passport..while my family waiting for me..dun argue with them liao..jus a waste of time..
learnt my lesson to check in with lugguage whenever possible
 

With regards to the tripod headache, my friend was in trouble last minute over at Tan Son Nhat Airport (HCMC airport) when he did not pay for additional check-in luaggage during ticket booking.

Flying budget with Jetstar also meant that he had to pay another 50 SGD equivalent to check in the tripod last minute. So he was stuck outside. I tried talking to the airport staff;

Me: Hi sir, can you give my friend exception for the tripod? It's not dangerous right?

Young security guy: No, no, it not dangerous, only tripod. But it maybe can be danger.

Me: Then if it's not dangerous, i buy you ca phe (coffee)?

Young security guy: Haha, no no, I can't give exception, it's regulation.

Me: Hi sir, what if we can fit the tripod inside the bag?

Young security guy: Haha... how you fit it inside bag?! It's MANFROTTO.

(For the moment I realized this guy was a photographer too)

Me: Alright, if we can fit the tripod in, can have exception?

Young security guy: Hahaha...

(Somehow we did manage to fit the tripod into his bag, as we passed through again)

Young security guy: Don't take it out, have nice trip to singapore.


So if you're travelling by budget, pay up for additional check-in luggage at the start for your tripod to avoid problems. Last minute check-in is expensive.
 

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I usually pack my tripod into my suitcase when I travel. Only thing bothering me now is that so far from what travel insurance policies I have seen so far, none covers any single personal item (or set of items) for more than $500. If I take my EOS 7D with the lenses, etc and somehow it got stolen or damaged, I only get max $500 for something worth more than $4k because I believe they will count the camera plus lenses etc as a set of items. Unless you guys know of any company that offers a more comprehensive coverage. Is there such a thing as photographer's insurance hahaha! Maybe the various photo clubs could look into this area.
 

Am planning for a trip to either Vietnam / Bali during End July OR Early Aug - Looking for travel mates. Just planning to head there to slack off the week; do some shoot of the places and people.

Hope I'm able to get some luck in search of peeps interested in here.
(ps. nothing is fix, so everything is Flexi)

Bro,there is no slacking in Bali, we spent 10 days there and could not finish half the photoshoot locations there. Furthermore waking up early morning and traveling long distance on the uneven roads will tire you out daily. There is just too much to cover there. :sweat:
 

I'm going to Bali mid July. Gonna be my maiden trip there.
Where do you suggest for a good place to shoot sunrise/sunset and any other great sights?
 

Just wanna comment on the security concern about Vietnam since I'm working here now.

Just practice vigilance, you are only tempting people to commit crime if you leave your camera on a table while drinking coffee, or slinging it causally on the same side as the road. Especially in notoriously high crime area (but you will never know since you are tourist).

In suburbs or country, a 7D/D700 is what an average person makes in 5 years. So if you put yourself in their shoes, it is extremely tempting! :bsmilie:
 

With regards to the tripod headache, my friend was in trouble last minute over at Tan Son Nhat Airport (HCMC airport) when he did not pay for additional check-in luaggage during ticket booking.

Flying budget with Jetstar also meant that he had to pay another 50 SGD equivalent to check in the tripod last minute. So he was stuck outside. I tried talking to the airport staff;

Me: Hi sir, can you give my friend exception for the tripod? It's not dangerous right?

Young security guy: No, no, it not dangerous, only tripod. But it maybe can be danger.

Me: Then if it's not dangerous, i buy you ca phe (coffee)?

Young security guy: Haha, no no, I can't give exception, it's regulation.

Me: Hi sir, what if we can fit the tripod inside the bag?

Young security guy: Haha... how you fit it inside bag?! It's MANFROTTO.

(For the moment I realized this guy was a photographer too)

Me: Alright, if we can fit the tripod in, can have exception?

Young security guy: Hahaha...

(Somehow we did manage to fit the tripod into his bag, as we passed through again)

Young security guy: Don't take it out, have nice trip to singapore.


So if you're travelling by budget, pay up for additional check-in luggage at the start for your tripod to avoid problems. Last minute check-in is expensive.

serve u right, want to save cost. just pay additional $ then. love your tripod too bro.