the sun also rises

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Angkor Thom

portrait shoot

 What else does one do with gorgeous morning light, shadows, a textured wall, and a camera at an amazing temple in Cambodia? Portrait photo shoot! Thanks to Kelly for following my direction!

angkor wat

I was intending to go to Kratie, Cambodia, to work on a photo story about a rare breed of pink dolphins in the Mekong River, but due to roads and bus travel times plans changed and we hopped a boat to Siem Reap. Siem Reap means "Siam Defeated," and is famously known for Angkor Wat, a series of Hindu temples built over a thousand years ago.

Monkey's everywhere! Such fun shooting...

Climbing the wat, no big deal

Ok ok, back to the wats. They were built under the Khmer empire by King Suryavarman and were incredible to see, as the Hindu influence almost seemed Egyptian, and there were a bunch to see in slightly various styles.

This is nearby Angkor Thom

 Do you see the face? Reclining Buddha.

Asia sun, 12.12.12

cambodia

Late afternoon, Phnom Penh

s-21

Rwanda, Germany, Argentina, Chile, the United States, Cambodia... it has happened many places. A genocide under the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot wiped out nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population from 1975 to 1979. The Killing Fields, about fifteen kilometers outside of Phnom Penh, was one place out of hundreds where Cambodians were executed for no reason at all.
'The Killing Tree'

 Former mass graves

Former jail, which used to be a school

phnom penh

Caught a bus for ten bucks from Saigon to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, just yesterday morning. Cambodia is hot. The people look more Thai, whereas the Vietnamese looked more Chinese. The capital city has hints of French urbanization with lazy boulevards and long promenades. Everything is cheap, everyone's just trying to get by. Greenbacks are the currency of choice and tuk tuk drivers ask if you want a ride every five minutes. Here's a look

Leftover from the President's visit...

Monks gathering alms