Cambodian Reflections

Today was a travel day for us, so we had some free time in the morning to sleep in, pack or just enjoy the resort.  We chose to have massages after breakfast to work out some kinks we had developed carrying around our equipment.  They really know how to give a massage here and it only cost $75 for both of us.  I would be doing this weekly if it was available at home.

For anyone thinking about traveling to Cambodia I say do it!  The people are very friendly and welcoming.  The US dollar is accepted everywhere so there's no need to mess with money conversion.  They even gave me change in dollars at many places.  There's lots of very nice hotels dotting the city and the tuk tuks make it very easy to get anywhere you want for not much money.  The temples are fabulous and the food is not bad either.

A word about Siem Reap traffic.  A native describe it like this: It's like a river with rocks in it, with everyone flowing around each other and a somewhat disorganized but organized fashion.  Traffic from all directions merges and exits without coming in contact each other in some kind of dance that only they really understand.  If you cross the street slowly, all the vehicles will find a way of avoiding you.  It's really pretty amazing.

Our next destination was a short plane flight into Laos.  We ran into a little issue on Laos Air with all the luggage we had with us.  I guess they are not used to having so many bags with camera equipment that needed to come onto the plane.  We finally wore them down and they let us direct the placement of our luggage to our satisfaction.

Coming into Luang Prabang, Laos was beautiful with mountains surround the town and the sun setting as a back drop.  Our hotel, the Burasari Heritage is a collection of buildings containing lovely guest rooms.  Some of the room layouts were a little different (our shower was in the corner of our bedroom) but the accommodations were more than adequate.

We walked to a group dinner at L'Elephant just up from our hotel.  Laos was a French colony at one point and it really shows in the quality of food available to us.  French bakeries line the streets along with both French and native restaurants.  The town has a very chill vibe which should be a great way to end our trip.

Tomorrow: Up at dawn with the monks

A Day at the Temples

We departed out hotel at 4:30 a.m. to try and beat the sunrise crowd at Angkor Wat.  We had our pick of spots along the lakes flanking the entrance to the temple, so we set up our tripods and waited for some light.  There was one American that thought she should have a clear view of the temple just because she had arrived early.  I politely informed her that she was living in some dream world if she thought the 10 foot open space in front of her was going to remain devoid of tourist as the throngs filled in.  I had my "I told you so" moment withing the next 30 minutes.

We had a little time in the temple after the sunrise, so we went back to look for things we might have missed during our first visit.  One mother had dressed her daughter up to have her pictures made inside, so I took advantage of getting her in action, leaping through the air, poising on the steps and getting to act like a kid.  She was cute and it was fun shooting her.

Our next stop was Ta Prohm, the temple I had visited a few days earlier when we first arrived.  Today I went a different way and was rewarded with some new spots to shoot.  The Chinese tourists were everywhere, so I had to be patient and let them move on before getting good clean photos.  This spot is so unique, I think I could visit it several days in a row and still find new pictures.

Right after lunch, we had our final class in Siem Reap.  They try to use the hottest part of the day for the critique sessions both to keep us out of the heat and to use the nice morning and afternoon light to our advantage.

Our final temple of the day was Bayan and Angkor Thom.  Because each of the temples around Siem Reap were built during different time periods they each have a very different style.  Bayan is know for the giant Buddha heads carved into the sides of stone pillars.  The temple is elevated which gives it an more imposing silhouette.  The late afternoon sun splashed soft light on the faces and showed off the beautiful carvings into the walls.

There's been a lot of development in Siem Reap since our last visit in 2011 including Pub Street, an area near downtown with bars, restaurants and shops and a general nightlife attitude to lure in visitors.  We ended up at a restaurant named Steak House which serves, wait for it, steaks!  They also had some more typical Asian dishes and some very delicious sides (garlic was in no shortage here).  The wait staff was attentive and very appreciative of both our praise and our tips.  I highly recommend it if you're visiting.

Next:  Day of Travel

Phare Circus

This morning we had our first critique session with our workshop photographer, Ira Block.  This group is pretty seasoned so there were some pretty fantastic images for the first day of class.  While we all have things to work on during the trip, Ira was pretty pleased with our starting point.

This afternoon Liza had arranged for us to spend some time with Phare Circus.  This organization was founded by 9 young Cambodians in 1994 returning from refuge camps at the fall of the Khmer Rouge.   They soon founded a K-12 school which provides arts training to their students while also providing an education. The circus is an offshoot from the school and provides funds for their educational mission.  I suggest you go visit their website to learn more about this amazing organization at http://pharecircus.org/about-us/our-social-mission/ .

We spent the afternoon watching the performers rehearse before the evening performance.  You might think of this a little like Cirque du Soleil with a story unique to Cambodia.  Each show is created by the performers to tell their story to the audience.  The show we'll see is about the differences between Cambodians and foreign visitors.

There's a restaurant onsite that we dined in prior to the performance which serves great Cambodian and western fare.  We had a chance to look through our shots from the afternoon before preceding into the tent for the main event.  This show was really amazing!  I highly recommend a visit if yo find yourself in the area.

Tomorrow: Temples, temples and more temples

Hello Cambodia

Today marked the official first day of our photography tour.  We weren't meeting until afternoon, so we took the opportunity to take a tuk tuk (motorcycles pulling trailers with bench seating) to one of the most iconic temples in Siem Reap, Ta Prohm.  You might recognize this temple from the classic Angelina Jolie (yes at least one of her adopted children are from Cambodia) film, Laura Croft, Tomb Raider.

What makes this temple so special are the large trees that have grown over the walls and buildings giving it an abandoned look.  Large stone blocks are strewn everywhere, more evidence that this has not been used in quite some time.  While there is a lot of renovation work being done here, I doubt the charm of the trees will ever go away.

We headed back to our Cambodian home, the Shinta Mani Resort, for a bite of lunch before we met up with our group.  This is a lovely resort that also gives back to Cambodia through a foundation that provides water wells and job training.  I would highly recommend it if you visit Cambodia.

We fortunately already knew almost everyone participating in the workshop, so the introductions were brief at our group meeting.  We then caught tuk tuks to make our first official temple visit.  First we had to stop at their new visitor center to purchase our 3 day temple pass which will allow us to wonder freely through the vast network of temples that cover this lovely city.

Off we went to Angkor Wat for our sunset shoot.  I'm sure you've seen pictures of this temple at some point in your life since it is really majestic and has been well preserved.  You approach it down a long walkway with lakes on either side entering through a stone gate.  The temple itself is an incredible site as you pass through the gate onto the long elevated ancient walkway.  Climbing steps, you find yourself in the entrance of a series hallways, outdoor pavilions and big Buddha statutes.  Monks walk the halls and also offer blessings to those who would like to donate.  Tourist are there to be photographed against the backdrop of intricately carved reliefs.  It's really an amazing place and something everyone should see in their lifetime.

We had our tradition group dinner tonight where everyone got to catch up since our last trips.  It was really a lovely start to what I'm sure will be an exciting workshop.

Tomorrow:  Off to the Circus

Farewell Bangkok

Our flight to Cambodia was later in the day, which left us a little more time to explore Bangkok.  After breakfast we headed out looking for a crafts market so we could take a little of Thailand home with us.

A few blocks from our hotel was a shrine where you can make a donation and girls in traditional Thai dress would dance while you prayed to Buddha.  After a few minutes of observing this ritual we continued on our quest.

We ended up back in the maze of modern shopping malls which appear to be outposts of American stores but no Thai crafts. All this searching had brought on pangs of hunger so we searched several floors of fastish food before settling on this strange little Japanese hamburger place.  Each sandwich held a tomato slab that was easily larger than the meat.  They also loved this sauce that was kinda like chili but fell a little short. It was okay but I wouldn't recommend it to a friend.

We finally located the crafts store we had been looking for in the basement of yet another shopping mall.  I usually think of a crafts market as a smaller store of lovely little home crafted goods sometimes with stories about the artists. This was not that kind of store.  This was more like Red River Pottery with shelves filled with statutes of Buddhas, elephants and other Thai emblems that were probably 'crafted' in nearby China.  No thanks.

We packed up our bags and headed out to the airport for our short flight to Siem Reap.  The airport was quite busy but we made it through with few hassles.  Luxury retail establishments lined the stroll to our gate.  Our time in Bangkok had been too brief so hopefully we'll return soon to explore this beautiful country further.

Tomorrow: Cambodia

Old Bangkok

There's a wonderful organization called Tours by Locals that matches tour guides with tourists.  We had arranged a tour of the old part of Bangkok.  Wi, our guide, lived in NYC for several years while his wife was working for Citigroup.  They moved back to Bangkok when they had their daughter and he's been a tour guide ever since.

We started the tour by taking the Skytrain to the river.  This elevated train is very efficient and clean and appears to be a popular way to get around.  Next we hoped on a local river fairy to take us near the Grand Palace.  The deceased King is lying in state in the one of the buildings in the palace complex and many, many Thai are visiting, dressed all in black, in large groups.  Groups of 100 are admitted at a time all during the day.

The Grand Palace complex includes the Palace that was built in 1946, a royal temple, Wat Phra Kaeo and a beautiful textile museum featuring the gowns of the Queen.  We visited the royal temple first.  The temples are absolutely gorgeous, decorated in bright mosaic tiles and gold leaf.  Throngs of people flowed around all the various temples, some taking tourist photos while others were there to give gifts to Buddha.  One of the major draws is to view the Emerald Buddha, considered the most sacred image in Thailand.  While small in stature, it sits high on a golden alter, dressed in the clothing of the season (changed out from a ladder by the King).  Many of the buildings in the palace complex have definite European influences.  One of the former Kings was educated in England and was a good friend of Queen Victoria.

The last building we visited was the textile museum which houses many of the Queens former royal gowns.  This Queen definitely enjoyed her French designers.  Her incredibly small waist (maybe the size of my thigh?)  was a feature of many of the sparkly gowns.  She reviles any of our first ladies in taste.

After our tour of the Palace, we walked across the street to a Naval facility and enjoyed a Thai family style meal.  Wi ordered for us, so I'm not positive we had but it was good.  Even better was the very cold water that helped a crew rehydrate after a warm morning.

After lunch we walked a short distance to Wat Pho (jokes included) to view the reclining Buddha.  This 151 foot long Buddha was installed in the 19th century and is gold leafed with mother of pearl images on the feet.  Some restoration is going on, so the pictures weren't perfect, but it was still impressive.

We took a ferry across the river to our last temple, Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn).  This was the royal temple of King Taksin in the 17th century.  This was another beautiful temple covered in colorful porcelain tiles.

And then, we did something completely different.  Long boats will take tourists through the canal system so you can get a look at how people live.  We saw everything from livestock to restaurants to houses both rich and poor.  It was fascinating and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the city.

It was late in the afternoon and we had a dinner reservation at 7:00 p.m., so we chose to skip China Town and head back to our hotel on the Skytrain, retracing our steps from this morning.  I absolutely loved the historic part of Bangkok and would love to return again to wonder around and soak in the good karma.

Tomorrow: Off to Cambodia

New Bangkok

Most places I've visited lately have been different than I expected and Bangkok is no exception.  Bangkok is a large modern city with amazing modern skyscrapers reaching into the air.  We would get a chance to see old Bangkok in a day or two, but this new one is pretty amazing.

We landed late in the evening and arrived at our hotel, Muse Hotel, at midnight.  We didn’t really get a good feel until the next morning when we struck out to walk the area.  We’ve learned to not plan too much on the first day after 24 hours of traveling, so we stuck to one destination and one dinner reservation.

Our destination was the Jim Thompson House.  Jim Thompson was an American that lived in Bangkok and helped revive the Thai silk industry almost single handedly.  He was involved in WWII on the US side living around the world until being sent to Thailand.  An architect, he built a beautiful housing complex which is open to tourists.  He disappeared in 1967 and was never found.  The Thai style house is a great example of his lifestyle in the 50’s and 60’s.  There are also demonstrations of spinning silk from the worm cocoons to the threads woven into fabric.  Jim Thompson stores are found all over Bangkok and sell beautiful silk items.

Bangkok has a thriving retail sector with a cluster of both high end and US chain stores located in a weave of shopping centers.  Our hotel was very near them and we wondered, a little glassy eyed from our travels, around them.  These put American malls to shame.  Food courts serve everything from KFC to Asian noodle houses and French crepes.  The Thai President died in October and there are memorials everywhere to him.  He was very popular and was one of the longest serving monarchs in the world.  His body is lying in state until his cremation sometime this year.  His 64 year old son is now King.

This evening we had a reservation in a restaurant recommended by a friend that appeared to be relatively close to our hotel.  However, we never counted on the terrible traffic we’d encounter.  What should have been a ten minute cab ride stretched to an hour and a half.  We did arrive at our destination and our table was waiting.  The ride back was much faster.

Tomorrow: Old Bangkok