Death by Flatulence?
From the August 2016 return trip to Siem Reap and the Angkor complex:
I love the Angkor complex, Siem Reap, and the Cambodian people so much that I returned again for about a week to photograph as much of the “non-major” sites as I could. Some of them are slightly far from Angkor Wat (by that, I mean to say more than 10 kilometers away), and usually require a little more money to get to. Also, some of the sites (Beng Mealea, Phnom Kulen) are not included in the Angkor ticket price and have an additional admission fee.
I don’t know if there’s a set number of how many sites belong in the Angkor complex, though I’m sure it would vary. (Do you only count the major sites like Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm? Do you add the sites that aren’t included in the standard “Angkor Pass,” but are clearly of the same era? Do you include sites that aren’t even named (as are one of the sites in this series)? All in all, I’ll put a very rough number at…50 sites in the Siem Reap area, and that includes the sites that are about 100 km away. Of those, I would say I’ve been to all but 5-10 now. All are included here with the exception, obviously, of the sites that I didn’t visit. (Off the top of my head, I can say they include Koh Ker & that respective group, which is about 120 km ENE of Siem Reap; Phnom Krom, one of the three “mountains” with temples; Ta Prohm Kel; and Mangalartha.)
In practical terms, I’m afraid that with the volume of shooting (about 1,500 frames in the past 7 days), photos will start to look redundant to those who don’t have the same interest in ancient/historical architecture or Angkor as I do. That being said, there are a few things besides temples here. The Old Market area (now Night Market/Pub Street) is represented – a little – and Phnom Kulen has a pretty nice waterfall which is also in this series. Also, I tried to catch a few people in here, though didn’t get as many as I would’ve liked.
I had my friend Mao (tuktuk driver) take me around for 5 of these 7 days this time around. As I mentioned last time, he may cost a little more than what you can arrange through a hotel/guesthouse, but he’s well worth the money (and, in the grand scheme of things, not too expensive; I paid less than $200 for the five days, two of which were “long” trips). He loves his country and heritage, he knows what he’s showing you, he’s flexible, he gives you enough ice water to keep you hydrated, and he’s just a good guy. (He even bought me a birthday cake for cryin’ out loud…) Anyway, I highly recommend Mao. You can find him here: www.facebook.com/mao.khvan (or on Trip Advisor: www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297390-d10726821-R... )
Now that shameless plugs and other assorted rhetoric are out of the way, it’s time to get on to the temples, ruins, and other miscellany.
My last two days of this weeklong Angkor trip were spent alone (with no guide, that is). I just hired a tuktuk to drop me off and took a different one back both days. The price for that was $15 round trip, so was ten dollars cheaper than going with Mao, but as I mentioned…Mao does a lot of extra things to make the extra cost worthwhile.
By this point, however, I’m pretty familiar with anything I want to see or do in the Angkor area, so had no problems haggling over prices or anything else. On Sunday, I woke up fairly early and started to walk towards the Night Market area to grab a tuktuk. (My Home Tropical Villa is about 600 meters walk due south of the Night Market for those who are interested, though there is definitely no shortage of places to stay in Siem Reap.)
Anyway, a fellow stopped by and $7 and 20 minutes later, I found myself at the east gate of Ta Prohm. I wanted to come back here because the previous two times I was here, I was dumb enough to not take my tripod out. So a few of the shots in this particular group may be a bit redundant, though I hope not too much so. The only “new” part I saw while here this time around was the west gate, which I didn’t bother photographing. (Both the east and west gates didn’t impress me terribly, though they aren’t unattractive.) I don’t even have a shot from anywhere along the rather short west causeway represented here.
Since I was sans driver for the first time, I walked a bit. All told, I think I probably covered 3-4 km through the forest/jungle, but along roads I’d covered with Mao previously. After coming out the west gate of Ta Prohm, I headed straight north and followed the road as it goes north or west into the heart of Angkor Thom (ending directly in front of the Elephant Terrace).
En route, I took one or two very quick pictures at Spean Thma (or ‘Thmor,’ as I’ve seen spelled elsewhere; it means “stone bridge” in Khmer). I also returned for a few more detailed shots at Thommanon, but didn’t stop at Chao Say Tevoda.
Continuing west, I made my way into Angkor Thom and passed by some monkeys who looked to have some nefarious intentions of taking my camera gear. I squashed that by threatening them with my tripod. I also stopped to dance with a Cambodian family for a few seconds – literally – before reaching the South Kleang & South Suor Prat Towers for a few quick shots.
After that, I crossed over to the Elephant Terrace and wandered around the Phimeanakas area (north of the palace with the pool) before approaching Baphuon from the north. Coming out from Baphuon’s main entrance, I walked the 100 or so meters to Bayon to photograph some more of the reliefs from there.
That was the end of the Angkor shooting for Sunday. I paid $8 to a driver to drop me off by Pub Street where I grabbed lunch, did a little shooting in the Old Town area, then spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Monday was even easier than Sunday. I started a little bit later in the day after yet another ham & cheese omelet at My Home. I did some more shooting in the Old Town area before taking a tuktuk to Angkor Wat – the only temple I would shoot on my last day – where I stayed for an hour or two. Most of the shooting was of the grounds and the reliefs around the outer wall of the temple (though they aren’t nearly as distinct as those of Bayon). Distinctive…yes. They tell a story and are essentially a religious historical record. But, they’re not as easy to photograph as Bayon’s simply because they’re worn down a bit more.
After finishing up at Angkor Wat, I spent the rest of the day pretty much the same as Sunday. Sitting around the Old Town area and getting some night shots as well With that, my August holiday to Angkor & Siem Reap was finished. I wouldn’t see Mao again, though his wife and daughter came with a tuktuk driver on Tuesday morning to take me to the airport. If I’m lucky, I’ll be back again someday.
As always, I hope you enjoy this set. I appreciate you taking time to look. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message or leave it via comment.
Death by Flatulence?
From the August 2016 return trip to Siem Reap and the Angkor complex:
I love the Angkor complex, Siem Reap, and the Cambodian people so much that I returned again for about a week to photograph as much of the “non-major” sites as I could. Some of them are slightly far from Angkor Wat (by that, I mean to say more than 10 kilometers away), and usually require a little more money to get to. Also, some of the sites (Beng Mealea, Phnom Kulen) are not included in the Angkor ticket price and have an additional admission fee.
I don’t know if there’s a set number of how many sites belong in the Angkor complex, though I’m sure it would vary. (Do you only count the major sites like Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm? Do you add the sites that aren’t included in the standard “Angkor Pass,” but are clearly of the same era? Do you include sites that aren’t even named (as are one of the sites in this series)? All in all, I’ll put a very rough number at…50 sites in the Siem Reap area, and that includes the sites that are about 100 km away. Of those, I would say I’ve been to all but 5-10 now. All are included here with the exception, obviously, of the sites that I didn’t visit. (Off the top of my head, I can say they include Koh Ker & that respective group, which is about 120 km ENE of Siem Reap; Phnom Krom, one of the three “mountains” with temples; Ta Prohm Kel; and Mangalartha.)
In practical terms, I’m afraid that with the volume of shooting (about 1,500 frames in the past 7 days), photos will start to look redundant to those who don’t have the same interest in ancient/historical architecture or Angkor as I do. That being said, there are a few things besides temples here. The Old Market area (now Night Market/Pub Street) is represented – a little – and Phnom Kulen has a pretty nice waterfall which is also in this series. Also, I tried to catch a few people in here, though didn’t get as many as I would’ve liked.
I had my friend Mao (tuktuk driver) take me around for 5 of these 7 days this time around. As I mentioned last time, he may cost a little more than what you can arrange through a hotel/guesthouse, but he’s well worth the money (and, in the grand scheme of things, not too expensive; I paid less than $200 for the five days, two of which were “long” trips). He loves his country and heritage, he knows what he’s showing you, he’s flexible, he gives you enough ice water to keep you hydrated, and he’s just a good guy. (He even bought me a birthday cake for cryin’ out loud…) Anyway, I highly recommend Mao. You can find him here: www.facebook.com/mao.khvan (or on Trip Advisor: www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297390-d10726821-R... )
Now that shameless plugs and other assorted rhetoric are out of the way, it’s time to get on to the temples, ruins, and other miscellany.
My last two days of this weeklong Angkor trip were spent alone (with no guide, that is). I just hired a tuktuk to drop me off and took a different one back both days. The price for that was $15 round trip, so was ten dollars cheaper than going with Mao, but as I mentioned…Mao does a lot of extra things to make the extra cost worthwhile.
By this point, however, I’m pretty familiar with anything I want to see or do in the Angkor area, so had no problems haggling over prices or anything else. On Sunday, I woke up fairly early and started to walk towards the Night Market area to grab a tuktuk. (My Home Tropical Villa is about 600 meters walk due south of the Night Market for those who are interested, though there is definitely no shortage of places to stay in Siem Reap.)
Anyway, a fellow stopped by and $7 and 20 minutes later, I found myself at the east gate of Ta Prohm. I wanted to come back here because the previous two times I was here, I was dumb enough to not take my tripod out. So a few of the shots in this particular group may be a bit redundant, though I hope not too much so. The only “new” part I saw while here this time around was the west gate, which I didn’t bother photographing. (Both the east and west gates didn’t impress me terribly, though they aren’t unattractive.) I don’t even have a shot from anywhere along the rather short west causeway represented here.
Since I was sans driver for the first time, I walked a bit. All told, I think I probably covered 3-4 km through the forest/jungle, but along roads I’d covered with Mao previously. After coming out the west gate of Ta Prohm, I headed straight north and followed the road as it goes north or west into the heart of Angkor Thom (ending directly in front of the Elephant Terrace).
En route, I took one or two very quick pictures at Spean Thma (or ‘Thmor,’ as I’ve seen spelled elsewhere; it means “stone bridge” in Khmer). I also returned for a few more detailed shots at Thommanon, but didn’t stop at Chao Say Tevoda.
Continuing west, I made my way into Angkor Thom and passed by some monkeys who looked to have some nefarious intentions of taking my camera gear. I squashed that by threatening them with my tripod. I also stopped to dance with a Cambodian family for a few seconds – literally – before reaching the South Kleang & South Suor Prat Towers for a few quick shots.
After that, I crossed over to the Elephant Terrace and wandered around the Phimeanakas area (north of the palace with the pool) before approaching Baphuon from the north. Coming out from Baphuon’s main entrance, I walked the 100 or so meters to Bayon to photograph some more of the reliefs from there.
That was the end of the Angkor shooting for Sunday. I paid $8 to a driver to drop me off by Pub Street where I grabbed lunch, did a little shooting in the Old Town area, then spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Monday was even easier than Sunday. I started a little bit later in the day after yet another ham & cheese omelet at My Home. I did some more shooting in the Old Town area before taking a tuktuk to Angkor Wat – the only temple I would shoot on my last day – where I stayed for an hour or two. Most of the shooting was of the grounds and the reliefs around the outer wall of the temple (though they aren’t nearly as distinct as those of Bayon). Distinctive…yes. They tell a story and are essentially a religious historical record. But, they’re not as easy to photograph as Bayon’s simply because they’re worn down a bit more.
After finishing up at Angkor Wat, I spent the rest of the day pretty much the same as Sunday. Sitting around the Old Town area and getting some night shots as well With that, my August holiday to Angkor & Siem Reap was finished. I wouldn’t see Mao again, though his wife and daughter came with a tuktuk driver on Tuesday morning to take me to the airport. If I’m lucky, I’ll be back again someday.
As always, I hope you enjoy this set. I appreciate you taking time to look. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message or leave it via comment.