The Southeast Asia Travel Specialists Since 1999
A selection of photos of some of the more extreme examples of public transport Cambodia-style to be seen on the road in Cambodia. Mot of these were shot directly out of our minibus window, (rather than on the roof which might be good for photography but is undoubtedly a little on the dangerous side), so apologies for the slightly fuzzy…
Already did a photographs of Kompong Chhnang post on the fascinating market of this provincial Cambodian town but thought we’d add a few rainy season photographs for good measure since the views do change radically with the change in water levels. With the market being located right on the Tonle Sap riverbank, high water means the boats can unload their…
We’ll round up our Cambodia boat journey series on this highly picturesque river with a selection of typical Sangkar River landscapes. We do feel that photos, or at least our photos, don’t really do the scenery justice though. It’s not like trying to capture a beach, mountain or say a sunset – these are such broad vistas and 360-degree landscapes…
Following on from our bird-life post here’s a selection of some of the everyday, local life on the Sangkar River we’ve photographed on recent trips along this spectacular, picturesque and unusual river in western Cambodia: The lower stretch of the river, closer to the great Tonle Sap Lake sees the largest fluctuation in water levels between rainy and dry season…
Giant gnarled trees rise from huge piles of sandstone blocks; spreading roots and sprawling vines cloak massive walls, dense foliage obscures crumbling towers and moss and lichen conceal intricate carvings. Cambodia’s Beng Melea; chaotic, decaying ancient ruins and rampant tropical vegetation is a perfect synthesis of man’s handiwork and untamed nature yet, ultimate[y, a complete antithesis of what it was…
You wouldn’t guess today, looking at the scrub-covered low hills surrounded by paddy-fields and red-roofed temples, that the site of Udong, some 40 kilometres north of Phnom Penh, was for a long period the capital of the Khmer kingdom. As in Angkor times, only religious edifices such as the surrounding temples and various shaped and sized stupas that dot the…
More pics from down the back of the sofa (or is that settee?). This time a selection of images of Kep sunsets taken during our last visit to the small Cambodian coastal town. We thought of Kep since we’ll be down there again in a couple of weeks on our next Beyond Angkor – off the beaten track Cambodia tour…
A bit rushed today so minimal text, (you’ll be glad to hear), and a few photos we came across in a far corner of our hard drive – kind of a computer equivalent of down the back of the sofa we guess. These are some of our favourite Apsaras of UNESCO World Heritage Angkor Wat carvings at with an estimated…
Following on from our previous post on Phnom Penh’s Wat Kean Kleang here are some photographs of the excellent paintings we mentioned that are to be found on the wooden doors and window shutters of the old viharn or main worshipping hall. Couldn’t ascertain exactly how old they were – 100 years or so (?) – and sadly we’re not…
A favourite Phnom Penh Temple. If we’ve got this right, (and we’re not guaranteeing it!), the temple’s called Wat Kean Kleang. Situated a couple of kilometres after the Japanese Bridge with the Mekong bordering one side of the temple grounds and the main highway Number 6 the other. The temple is hard to miss with a large and elaborate, all…
Just a few pix from our latest visit to the Prek Toal Saray Water Hyacinth Handicraft Project in Cambodia’s Siem Reap Province. Already mentioned this excellent scheme a few times before, (e.g. see here), so won’t go into any details for now but thought we’d add a few photos on the subject since our recent trip was by far the…
Thanks very much to Blanca who actually mailed us these Cambodian boat journey photos ages ago but which we only recently retrieved from a semi-redundant in-box! Now getting out and pushing trucks, buses and assorted vehicles stuck in the mud is part of adventure tour mythology but on the Cambodia Overland tour in question we thought we’d better go one…
Ta Prom Tonle Bati; a very attractive, but rarely-visited Angkor-period temple a mere hour’s drive south of Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. (Well traffic permitting that is.) Ta Prom is differentiated from it’s better-known namesake at Angkor, (of giant roots and Lara Croft fame) by the addition of ‘Tonle Bati’ – a scenic freshwater lake adjacent to the ruined temple. This…
A few unusual images of Buddhist monks during a ceremony at the partially-ruined, but still active, shrine Wat Preah Ang Kok Thlok. Originally an Angkor-period temple the Wat is located just opposite the southwest corner of Bayon Temple at Angkor and we just stopped in as an afterthought on our way back to the car-park after our Bayon visit. A…
We were going to call this post ‘Thailand – meals and eating habits’ but the following goes for pretty much anywhere in Southeast Asia. For those of us brought up in ‘Western’ countries meals traditionally come at set ‘mealtimes’ and consist of foodstuffs and items considered appropriate for that particular meal time. i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner. Obviously there isn’t…
A bit rushed today -no time to write a blog post – so we’ll fall back on a few classic dawn at Angkor Wat pictures, which you can never have too many of (can you)? Must have watched the dawn rise over the famous silhouette at least 30 times but it never gets boring! Different time of year, different weather,…
We’re talking about the Tonle Sap riverbank market in the central Kompong Chnang waterfront area – a small provincial town and capital of the province of the same name some 2 hrs north of Phnom Penh. Ok don’t think we’ve ever actually bought anything there but it is our favourite market to wander around – and that’s in a country…
Last time we visited this temple – Wat Kompong Pich, Koh Dach we believe it’s called, (just outside Phnom Penh) – we were kindly invited to lunch by the old ladies who were cooking food for the monks. They actually apologized saying that it was ‘only Khmer food and not ‘Barang’ (Western ) food since they didn’t know how to…
Ta Keo Temple at Angkor – often overlooked and never gets too many stars in the guide book ratings yet it is a very impressive monument and one that you can generally visit without fighting your way through noisy crowds of Koreans for a pleasant change. (Or Chinese, French, Russians whatever – don’t mean to be rude about Koreans in…
A Kutisvara update in the light of a couple of precisions regarding our recent post on Angkor’s Kutisvara Temple from some interesting feedback we received. Firstly, whilst several prominent archaeologists, such as Coedes and Jacques have ascribed the central tower, pictured above, to the Jayavarman II/Preah Ko style, according to the E.F.E.O. (École Française d’Extrême-Orient) there is no conclusive evidence…