While Andrea was in Southeast Asia she had the opportunity to get some extra special shots with her kids thanks to Anna Bella Betts…
You know the disappointment when you get home from a trip and realize you have no good photos of the family or you and your significant others? Or, there are tons of photos, but since you’re the photographer, you’re not in any of them and you have to convince people you were actually there!Well the solution to this problem for visitors to Siem Reap is here! Anna Bella Betts offers a wonderful opportunity for travelers to have their temple adventures documented.
There are three ways to incorporate Anna into your trip:
1. Anna can just join your group for a day and take photos of you “in action” exploring the temples. This is what we’ve booked for guests in the past and while I think it’s great if you have a short amount of time and need to multitask, I do think it can be harder to get both the information from the guide and that perfect shot.
2. Hire Anna to take you around herself for half a day or a full day to her favorite temples. These tend to be the quieter temples and allow you to pose and explore without having to get information. This is what we did and I thought it was great. It was fun to see the temples, but in a less intense way and we were able to focus on getting pretty photos as well as enjoying the calm and beauty of these quieter temples.
3. Anna can take you around town and help you explore the temples, but also shots from the market or town. This is a great option for honeymoon photos or engagement photos as the background can be very mixed.
I enjoyed my time with Anna and I love the results. I find myself flipping through the photos and marveling at how lovely my kids are and how lucky we are to have this backdrop at our fingertips. I know these photos will be something I look back on and treasure and I am so glad I did it and can’t wait to include a morning with Anna in my guests tours!… Read more »
Jill Higson is a guest who traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia with Journeys Within over the holidays and has blogged about her experiences to share them with friends, family and future visitors. Read on as she shares her thoughts about travelling with Journeys Within…
Many Thanks And Kudos To Journeys Within
First and foremost, many thanks (Cam On in Vietnamese and Aw Kohn in Khmer) to Andrea Ross, Director of Journeys Within and her U.S., Vietnam and Cambodia team of directors, guides and drivers for arranging a trip of a lifetime! Their incredible help and kindness were endless – this included accompanying me to and from locations, educating me about each country’s temples, museums, markets and more.
Also, a big thank you for transporting me in cool and comfortable automobiles, along with the opportunity to ride on fun motor bikes, tuk-tuks (motorized rickshaws), bicycles and ATVs!
I could not have experienced and enjoyed Vietnam and Cambodia in such a unique, intimate and seamless manner without the Journeys Within team, especially since it was high season for travel in Southeast Asia. Airports, hotels, restaurants and sites were full of tourists from around the world – often large groups with their cameras and selfie sticks in hand! Everything was made more enjoyable by being able to follow Journey Within’s expert lead.
Jill enjoying time with her guides through out Southeast Asia.
My guides were even quite the photographers themselves, finding the perfect spot to take a classic photo of me by a temple or rice field. Also indulging me in a joint selfie as you will see from the many in the blogs – no selfie stick needed!
Time To Share My Travel Blog
So time to share, with excitement, my amazing and memorable two week adventure in Vietnam and Cambodia this past holiday season with my family, old friends, as well as new friends I met on my trip and of course the Journey’s Within team.
Please take a look and hope you will enjoy my blogs with some of my favorite photos and highlights. I think you might be booking a trip with Journeys Within afterward so I included my entire itinerary!
Must See Sites – Angkor Wat and Ha Long Bay
Angkor Wat and Halong Bay are among the most stunning sights in Southeast Asia.
Both Angkor Wat and Ha Long Bay are major tourist attractions, however they should still be considered ‘Must See Attractions’ due to their natural beauty, strong presence and the emotional impact they can have on any traveler. I recommend that you don’t let the crowd interfere with creating your own memories.
Waking up at 4:00AM to head out to see the sunrise was not originally at the top of my to-do list, however, it was well worth a few less hours of sleep to experience Angkor Wat at day break. To begin the day looking at the sky with this beautiful temple in the foreground was a special moment and then walking inside of it and wandering around the grounds beyond peaceful.
The Angkor Wat temple was spectacular inside and out, with its detailed architecture, breathtaking views and beautiful surroundings. One of my favorite photos was taken by a small window opening, where I sat looking out and reflecting upon the peace and tranquility of the temple — a genuine moment captured.
Jill enjoying a quiet moment of reflection among the ruins of Angkor Wat.
I was fortunate to spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day on the lovely Dragon’s Legend Junk boat, sailing through Ha Long Bay. While Halong Bay is a well-known tourist site, it was still overwhelming to take in the beauty of the bay’s many limestone islands and islets that were in every direction I looked. I could not decide which ones to take photos of, so settled on all!
The beautiful crag formations in Halong Bay.
I met wonderful families from Saigon and England on my overnight boat and spent the days embracing their little rug rats in photos while basking in the beauty of the bay. I explored Thien Con Son Cave and kayaked around Ho Co Island – an experience that was enhanced by the innocent and excited eyes of the children we had on board. It was beyond memorable to ring in 2015 with them and the boat’s wonderful staff, who treated us to a delicious eight-course dinner of fish, vegetables, rice and more. Plus we celebrated with a pre-New Year’s Eve toast and dancing on the deck! We may have been in an often-visited location, but the experience was all my own.
Jill and the staff of her junk cruise in Halong Bay.
As much as I enjoyed taking in the major attractions, I have to say seeing the countryside in Vietnam and Cambodia — villages, rice fields, livestock, etc. — was as memorable and important for me. Mixing in lesser seen locales helped me to better understand the people and the culture of these countries.
The Southeast Asian countryside is beautiful and varied in its sights.
I felt in tune with my surroundings and happy as I saw farm lands with water buffaloes in Hoi An by bike, breath taking mountains and islands of Ha Long Bay from a boat and kayak and villages filled with children and cows in Siem Reap by ATV.
Ever get tired of always having one person missing from your family holiday shots (someone’s got to take the photo right?)
Always having to ask a stranger to take that shot of you and your partner, or worse still, finding a willing helper and then taking back your camera only to find a blurred shot or one with heads missing? Or do you look through your holiday snaps and wish you had some really professional pictures of you or your kids in that memorable location that you could frame or send to the relatives?
We think we have the perfect solution in the form of long-time Siem Reap resident Anna Bella Betts. An accomplished photographer and contributor to such prestigious publications as ‘National Geographic’ and ‘Travel and Leisure’, Anna knows the temples of Angkor inside out and can add a wonderful new dimension to your time there. Her approach can be totally tailor-made to your requirements; either to shadow you and your guide, taking pictures all the while with a mostly ‘fly-on-the-wall’ style or with directed posed shots (think kids star jumping on a beach but with an Angkorian backdrop). Or a mixture of both – it’s up to you, but whatever approach you prefer the result will be a wonderful portfolio of professionally rendered memories.
Being so familiar with the area Anna Bella can also add valuable input to your itinerary, sharing with you the best viewpoints for photos or the best time of day to visit a certain spot. For those with an interest in photography themselves, she can also help you get the most out of your own images. Included in your package are between 50 – 150 high resolution images (depending on the length of the tour – half and full days are both offered), delivered in jpeg format to your hotel the following day on a USB flash drive.
Journeys Within were happy to accommodate when Brandie Joy chose us to help her plan a recent trip to Siem Reap for her lovely family. After returning home she shared this adorable family photo and her thoughts on their time away — a review too sweet not to share …
The staff at Journeys Within are amazing.
We were given a recommendation by a friend and I’m so glad I contacted them. Our trip to Siem Reap was booked at the last minute, a chance to escape the hustle of Kuala Lumpur for a long weekend.
I emailed Anna and she was able to accommodate us on such short notice on the days that we had available. Our guide and driver were excellent and provided us a lot of information and answered all of our questions along the way.
Being able to get into an air conditioned van with water and wet towels was nice too, especially traveling with kids.
I will be telling all of our friends about Journeys Within for their upcoming trips and can’t wait to work with them again!
Traveling is a great way to leave an unforgettable mark on any of life’s special occasions. As many of our guests celebrate special occasions while on tour with Journeys Within, we thought we would share some of the restaurants that can give any occasion the care and attention they deserve…
Serving up contemporary Cambodian food as well as some international fair, AHA offers the chicest atmosphere in downtown Siem Reap. With one of the best wine lists in town and its traditional fine-dining feel, this restaurant is a trendy choice for those who want to celebrate with style in an otherwise dressed-down town.
Insider tip: It is a popular spot in town so seating inside cane pretty cozy, but the staff are top notch and always willing to accommodate special events.
Cuisine Wat Damnak was founded on the simple idea of using only local, fresh, and seasonal produce to create delicious contemporary Cambodian food. As such, the menu changes on a weekly basis with the chef carefully designing each set course meal. Located in a beautiful Khmer house just outside of town, this restaurant delivers atmosphere as well as excellent meal options and is considered Siem Reap’s finest overall restaurant.
Insider tip: The best seats are outside, weather willing.
This is a private dinner in a traditional Kompheim village home located just outside Siem Reap. Surrounded by nothing but rice paddies and accompanied by traditional music, this romantic experience is a one-of-a-kind meal. A private chef and wait staff, drinks and nibbles, starter taster plate, main meal, trio of desserts, exotic fruit platter and all the evenings drinks all included.
Insider tip: A unique dining experience, food must be pre-selected from provided menus 2 days before.
