The temples at Angkor make it onto most lists of Things to See Before You Die, and we're glad we did - A billboard for a local museum reads "See Angkor Wat and not die". If you're interested in Cambodian history, this is where the Khmer empire ruled from at the height of its power. If you don't give a monkey's about Cambodian history, but are interested in movies, gaming and/or enhanced cleavages, this is where a padded Angelina Jolie bounced (and we mean BOUNCED) around as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. Being extremely interested in history, Daniel was in Heaven.
There are hundreds of temples spread across hundreds of kilometres, and we had 3 days. This meant we had to call on the services of a tuktuk driver called Million - "like million dollar" - to get around. Million was surgically attached to his shades - he picked us up at 5am one morning and even though it was completely dark he was still in the dark glasses.
That was the morning we joined hundreds, if not thousands, of others for what felt like a pilgrimage to see dawn behind Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the biggie, the famous silhouette that is represented everywhere in Cambodia: on its flag, on its money, and on the thing most people see every day, the beer, and they are rightfully proud of this place. We weren't the only people who wanted a good picture (as one woman put it - "the photo geeks are out in force today!"), and for once Daniel felt among his brethren when he pulled out his tripod and shutter release.
Ta Prohm is where LC:TR was filmed, and you can see why the location scout chose this place: semi-ruined temples, broken Buddha statues and cracked pillars intertwined with trees and roots. Again hundreds of tourists, and hundreds of tourists means about a million small children trying to sell you something. A typical conversation goes like this (always aimed at Celia, never at Daniel):
The embarassing thing was that at 7 they could speak more languages than we could...
When we were lucky enough to come across an empty temple, we could see how atmospheric and spiritual this place really was. A place to remember for a very long time!
There are hundreds of temples spread across hundreds of kilometres, and we had 3 days. This meant we had to call on the services of a tuktuk driver called Million - "like million dollar" - to get around. Million was surgically attached to his shades - he picked us up at 5am one morning and even though it was completely dark he was still in the dark glasses.
That was the morning we joined hundreds, if not thousands, of others for what felt like a pilgrimage to see dawn behind Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the biggie, the famous silhouette that is represented everywhere in Cambodia: on its flag, on its money, and on the thing most people see every day, the beer, and they are rightfully proud of this place. We weren't the only people who wanted a good picture (as one woman put it - "the photo geeks are out in force today!"), and for once Daniel felt among his brethren when he pulled out his tripod and shutter release.
Ta Prohm is where LC:TR was filmed, and you can see why the location scout chose this place: semi-ruined temples, broken Buddha statues and cracked pillars intertwined with trees and roots. Again hundreds of tourists, and hundreds of tourists means about a million small children trying to sell you something. A typical conversation goes like this (always aimed at Celia, never at Daniel):
- "Laadeyy, you wan buy post-card?"
"No thankyou"
"10 for dollar"
"No thankyou"
"Okay, okay, 20 for 2 dollar"
"No thankyou"
"You buy when you get back - you promise"
The embarassing thing was that at 7 they could speak more languages than we could...
When we were lucky enough to come across an empty temple, we could see how atmospheric and spiritual this place really was. A place to remember for a very long time!
Camera: Panasonic (Dmc-fz20) |
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