[Yann]

For those who want to travel is Asia, I wrote about what I took with me during my trip

hope you'll enjoy!

Quiet Leaf: Travelling in Vietnam – What gear ?

[elho_cid]

nice blog you have there. I enjoyed reading your post as well as your review of the FA*300

[Yann]

thanks!

[theperception2008]

Thanks Yann for the info and the tips. I am going with a small group to Vietnam, Cambodia, and then Thailand. I was thinking of taking my 16-45 f/4, 55-300 f/4-5.8, and either my DA 35 f/2.8 for any macro opportunities and low light shooting, or my SMC-F 50 f/1.7. Camera will be my trusty K100D Super or if I am good with my money, the K-5 with the DA 18-135 (which I was going to buy at release but financial hardship struck) and the DA 35 ltd. Would that be a viable lens solution for such a trip Yann?

[NicZh]

I really enjoyed your articles and pictures, very good read, and I found the information to be very helpful. I will be traveling to Asia in the summer, and I think I will be getting the Tamron 17-50 as my primary walk around/landscape lens, hopefully i'll be able to capture some decent shots!

[Yann]

theperception2008, it's a good kit to travel with. For the 35ltd or the 50, since they aren't big lenses and if you have enough space, take them both.

If don't have a k-5 and the 18 135, it's ok if you have a p&s for rainy days as your gear will probably stay in your bag.

But 18-135 is a good range

[Jasvox]

I agree about the handiness of having a good quality P&S with you. I almost always carry my LX3 with me when I travel along with my K-7 and a lens or two. I never lose much confidence when only taking my LX3 on a rainy day or on a day when just carrying around the space or weight of a DSLR wont do. Some of my favorite shots over the last year were from my P&S.

Jason

[vincechu]

a great article, love the second photo - the scenary looks very beautiful n tranquil.

Love how your article highlights the importance of taking a flexibile kit on holiday, and I'll certainly take this into account when I go to Hong Kong in summer. Thanks :-)

[selar]

I got robbed on my very first day in Vietnam. The police were really unhelpful and unfriendly, wouldn't even file a report for me, so that I could claim insurance. Atleast in my case it was just jewellery, I saw a German girl standing in the Police Station and crying, she had been robbed of her passport, and the police were threatening to deport her. I decided then that I was never going back, life is too short to waste on travelling to countries with crap governments.

[vincechu]

selar, i see where u're coming from but just be careful not to offend others with the last part of your post

[selar]

In case my last post was not clear:

I love the Vietnamese people. I hate the Vietnamese Government. 99% of the Vietnamese people I have met share my feelings.

[theperception2008]

I got robbed on my very first day in Vietnam. The police were really unhelpful and unfriendly, wouldn't even file a report for me, so that I could claim insurance. Atleast in my case it was just jewellery, I saw a German girl standing in the Police Station and crying, she had been robbed of her passport, and the police were threatening to deport her. I decided then that I was never going back, life is too short to waste on travelling to countries with crap governments.

Man tell me about it! I'm going there for the first time and am worried about such incidents. Being Vietnamese by descent doesn't help either I hear. My uncle went to visit a few years back and was harassed by customs... until he HAD to bribe them so that he wouldn't miss his return flight.

I went to China 2 years ago and that was an interesting experience. The average ordinary citizen is even afraid to speak up about their government. Everyone I talked to seemed to have the exact same rehearsed opinion. "The government is great and WE love China!" more or less sums up what they said.

Anyways, for my camera kit I'm really trying to think if I should get something more expensive (camera body upgrade) or just go with the 16-45 and the 55-300 and augment that with the DAL 35 f/2.4 carrying my K100D Super...

P.S. No offense taken :-) Not a fan of the govt. there either...

[Frogfish]

Man tell me about it! I'm going there for the first time and am worried about such incidents. Being Vietnamese by descent doesn't help either I hear. My uncle went to visit a few years back and was harassed by customs... until he HAD to bribe them so that he wouldn't miss his return flight.

I went to China 2 years ago and that was an interesting experience. The average ordinary citizen is even afraid to speak up about their government. Everyone I talked to seemed to have the exact same rehearsed opinion. "The government is great and WE love China!" more or less sums up what they said.

Anyways, for my camera kit I'm really trying to think if I should get something more expensive (camera body upgrade) or just go with the 16-45 and the 55-300 and augment that with the DAL 35 f/2.4 carrying my K100D Super...

P.S. No offense taken :-) Not a fan of the govt. there either...

I'm sorry but that is SUCH BS ! You gleaned all that from a trip here 2 years ago ?! I wonder how many people you actually spoke to, to generalise like that.

Having lived here for 15 years I can say with absolute certainty that people here DO voice their opinions and are certainly not afraid to say what they think - however the truth is they DO love their Govt (n.b. not the local police !) because for the most part it has taken (the people you are likely to meet in cities) from poverty to relative prosperity (and sometimes much much more than that) improving facilities and life for the average citizen.

They still have a long way to go and what many people consider a comfortable life here is not what people in the West would consider comfortable - but then we've been spoiled. For many here their lives now have opportunity and ambition, whereas 15 years ago that was not the case. And when you consider what is going to happen globally over the next 20 years how can you blame them for being optimistic and loving the change in the country and their lives ?

[theperception2008]

I'm sorry but that is SUCH BS ! You gleaned all that from a trip here 2 years ago ?! I wonder how many people you actually spoke to, to generalise like that.

Having lived here for 15 years I can say with absolute certainty that people here DO voice their opinions and are certainly not afraid to say what they think - however the truth is they DO love their Govt (n.b. not the local police !) because for the most part it has taken (the people you are likely to meet in cities) from poverty to relative prosperity (and sometimes much much more than that) improving facilities and life for the average citizen.

They still have a long way to go and what many people consider a comfortable life here is not what people in the West would consider comfortable - but then we've been spoiled. For many here their lives now have opportunity and ambition, whereas 15 years ago that was not the case. And when you consider what is going to happen globally over the next 20 years how can you blame them for being optimistic and loving the change in the country and their lives ?

I'm not so sure, maybe because you have been there for the past 15 years and so people know you. All I am is an outsider so I am sure they spoke to me with a veil of distrust. I did speak to quite a few people btw. Mostly younger adults that spoke english.

I never said that China was not growing nor did I state that conditions are poor. I was in Shanghai as well. In fact my Samsung GX-20 with most of our photos stolen there on our first day in Shanghai. Aside from that, Shanghai looks to be a wonderful city and the police were helpful but also honest in that they were pretty much helpless in catching the criminal(s) responsible. But other regions of China I have to say are not as well off as Shanghai. Especially if you look at the countryside from Beijing to Chongqing. They do not look like they even have any communication with the rest of the country.

My problem is with the government of China. For example, the construction and completion of the Three Gorges Dam. Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes, countless artifacts were lost due to the desire of the Government to "improve peoples" lives.

I am sure that spending 15 years in Shanghai would definitely give me a better perspective, but having to do it in 21 days going from the capital to the countryside and then circling back, that's the most accurate that I can give from my experiences.

This was my experience and it doesn't represent the actual view of the people nor are my statements approved by The People's Republic of China.

[Frogfish]

Sorry Perception but - although I don't wish to turn this into a political debate - I mean, did you really talk politics with everyone you came across ? No ? then we are talking tiny numbers right ?

Your comments are the typical observations of someone in the West who has peeped behind the curtain or who has watched too much CNN / BBC. Please don't take that as a derogatory statement - it is merely an observation.

What most people fail to properly consider when talking about China is the sheer numbers of people. It is pointless to talk about issues affecting relatively small numbers of people in relation to 1.6 billion !

Yes, the Three Gorges Dam did mean hundreds of thousands of peasants (in the main living in atrocious conditions and often without electricity and proper sanitation) were re-housed in other locations, and of course for some that was undesirable and an emotional upheaval (especially at the time, when they didn't know what their lives would be like in their new home), however they were re-housed in far better conditions than they were living in previously - in new apartments with proper sanitation and electricity and with land to farm as they had before, and the Govt tried to keep communities together - Shanghai housed a huge number of these people, many on Chongming Island - just 60 mins from downtown.

The Dam has provided a massive amount of electricity to industry (fueling new job creation) and allowing residential homes to have access to cheap & continuous power.

However for China it is most often a case of 'for the greater good' (I'm not talking about corruption issues here, which is a whole other ball-game). The Dam has solved a massive electricity crisis in that region, brought about by the speed of growth - which everyone in China wants to partake of !

Don't forget China has, in just 20 years, evolved from a country in a state akin to the 19th century Industrial revolution in the West, to the modern day. Of course there are going to be contradictions and upheaval, but the lives of hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of abject poverty ... and continue to improve.

And as you say I'm sure your views "doesn't represent the actual view of the people" so why purport them to ?