The Great Angkor Wat

I went with a colleague for a holiday in Thailand last year – after a week in Thailand, she had a flight to Melbourne and my flight to London was 4 days later. During our flight from Phuket to Bangkok the in-flight magazine had an article on the great Angkor Wat temple ruins in Seam Reap, Cambodia. It was an experience of a famous French photographer who made as many as 10 trips to Cambodia in the 90’s to take photographs using an infra red camera, of one of the greatest temple ruins on earth. His pictures show-cased on the magazine were breathtaking and the infra-red camera shots resembled the ones I take on Sepia mode of my camera. He used an infra red camera for 2 reasons – a) it completely eliminates the effect of tree leaves that might come in the way (b) taking a picture using a color camera already puts a date to the photo; IR/Sepia pictures suggests something antique. Take a look at some of the Sepia-mode pictures I shot in Cambodian Angkor to know it yourself. On arrival at Bangkok, I saw her off to Australia and took a $40 Bangkok Airways flight to Seam Reap, Cambodia – I had no idea what I was in for!

Hindu God of Creation – Vishnu at the entrance of the Angkor Wat main temple. Angkor Wat is a set of 30 temples (many more unexplored, they say) on the outskirts of Seam Reap – a town on the Northern part of Cambodia. You can buy a 3 day temple visit pass for $40 and a 1 day pass cost you $20. You’d need at least 3 days to explore the Angkor and there are tourists that rent apartments to stay in Seam Reap for longer periods and explore the ruins in leisure.

Angkor Wat – the main temple and its reflection on the pond in the front. There is a strange phenomenon that happens only in this part of the world. The ocean floods the forests surrounding the Angkor during the rainy months and recedes in summer. The locals say that’s how they managed to build these massive stone temples in the middle of nowhere – the stones must have arrived on boats when the forests flood.

The Face temple – the faces represent king Jeyavarman whose face meant terror to the enemies. This temple was actually scary in broad day light!


There are lots of eerie trees all around Angkor and for tree watchers this place is a paradise. Observe the ones above, where the trees and the temple form a single formation.

Cat Temple – of course that is not its name; but the shape of the series of temples resembles a cat sitting down.

Stone rubbles are a common scene in this age old temple ruins. Some are really worth taking a close look at. The greenish tinge on the black rocks on a green background makes a good contrast and is pleasing to the eyes.



Kids kids kids – you will find them all around the temples and in Seam Reap town. Most bug tourists for money selling T-shirts, bronze figurines etc. Some like in the pictures above just play, swim, fish, randomly walk and enjoy their childhood in one of the most stunning works of the yesteryears. Angkor – I’d say is the mother of all hindu temples in the world.

There is plenty of opportunities for tourists to do community work in Seam Reap. When you still have time and energy after exploring the Angkor, you can consider visiting the following –
* Artisans D’angkor is an French organization that encourages and helps talented Angkor sculptors to continue the khmer art & tradition - http://www.artisansdangkor.com/
* The National Museum has been renovated and looks great
* There is a famous landmine museum [Cambodia has a deep landmine history – google to know more]
* Every night performances of Apsara [heavenly dance girl/charmer] dancers in Seam Reap restaurants
* Floating forests – definitely a must-see; you can even canoe in the thick forests [mind your head - take care there could be a branch or a root right in the front]
* Hiking Spots with plenty of waterfalls with stone sculpture ruins
* Army Shooting range – you could try AK-47, Mortar bombs, Pistols and other artillery that you fancy for dirt cheap price!