THE PINK LOTUS

Posted on May 18, 2021

The pink lotus is a sacred symbol in the Hindu and Buddhist faiths and in Asian culture it symbolizes purity and enlightenment. This majestic flower thrives in muddy swamps and its existence is oftentimes used as a metaphor to our daily lives with the muddy waters symbolizing the craziness around us while the pink lotus blooming above it symbolizing our ability to bloom into the best version of ourselves despite the circumstances.

These photographs of a pink lotus were taken near the ruins of Beng Mealea outside the city of Siem Reap in Cambodia. This solitary bloom was situated right in the middle of a swamp and I wanted to move closer for a close-up but my guide warned me of snakes so I opted to stay within the snake-free zone. I realized I’ll never be a National Geographic photographer as I don’t have the balls to risk it for the perfect shot. 😬

Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, Destinations, Elements, Flowers, Forest, Landscapes, Nature, Panorama, Photography, Plants, Portrait, Random, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, Wilderness Tagged: angkor, angkor wat, Art, asia, cambodia, Canon, Canon DSLR, Canon photography, Canon Rebel, Canon Rebel T6s, destination, dslr, flower, Forest, Lotus, nature, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, Pink Lotus, Pink Lotus Flower, siem reap, southeast asia, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, traveler, Traveller, travelling, vacation

THE FLOATING VILLAGE OF KOMPONG PHLUK

Posted on September 11, 2020

The Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and along its shores are villages that are highly dependent on its ecosystem for their food supply. Two of these villages, Kompong Khleang and Kompong Phluk, have now become major tourist attractions because of the houses built on stilts to stay above water and also due to their proximity to Siem Reap. Our tour guide took us to the floating village of Kompong Phluk, which was the closest at around 15 kilometers from Siem Reap. This was a nice change of scenery after all the trips to the temples. The village sits alongside a river that is snaking its way towards the Tonle Sap Lake and our boat took us to the very heart of this village sailing past humble homes and friendly villagers. We continued sailing towards the lake and passed by a mangrove forest, which I will feature in another post. I’m glad I brought my DSLR with me during this tour for better quality photos as at one point I was so dependent on my iPhone for travel photography and has since regretted doing so. Here are some of the photos I took of the floating village of Kampong Phluk. The muddy water was a beautiful complement to the earthy tones of the wooden stilts and houses. Thankfully, the sun was out that day creating beautiful shadows with the stilts as well as saturating the colors of the water, the houses and the vegetation around the village. I hope you guys enjoy these series of photographs and don’t forget to like and leave a comment. Till my next post…stay safe everyone!

Category: Adventure, Architecture, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, Destinations, Elements, Landscapes, Nature, Panorama, People, Photography, Plants, Random, Rivers, sky, Skylines, Street Photography, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, WATER Tagged: angkor, angkor wat, Architecture, Art, asia, cambodia, Canon, Canon DSLR, Canon photography, Canon Rebel, Canon Rebel T6s, clouds, destination, dslr, floating village, floating village of tonle sap, kompong phluk, nature, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, photos, siem reap, southeast asia, Sun, tonle sap, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, Traveller, travelling, vacation, WATER, Weather

BAYON: THE TEMPLE OF MANY FACES

Posted on September 5, 2020

Bayon is an ancient Khmer temple located in the middle of Angkor Thom, which is the last capital city of the Khmer empire. The temple’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and smiling faces carved on the roofs of all the towers in the complex. Interestingly, all the faces look similar and our guide told us that scholars suggested it was a representation of King Jayavarman VII. This ancient city is now part of the modern city of Siem Reap, Cambodia. I arrived in Cambodia on the last days of the rainy season and during my visit to the temples, the skies were leaden with overcast. Although, the sun trying to break through the clouds created a golden haze making the colors of the temple richer. The temple is every photographer’s dream destination from the carved facades, the stone statues, the towers with faces and the bas-reliefs on the galleries, there is just a bounty of subjects to photograph. I took hundreds of photographs in all available angles and these are some of my favorites. Hope you all enjoy looking at them and maybe they will inspire some of you to visit Cambodia in the near future.

Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Archeology, Architecture, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, City, Destinations, Elements, Engineering, Forest, Historical Site, Landmarks, Landscapes, Monument, Museums, Nature, Panorama, People, Photography, Plants, Random, Religious Shrine, Ruins, Sculpture, Statue, Street Photography, Temples, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, Weather Tagged: ancient city, angkor, Angkor Thom, angkor wat, Archeology, Architecture, Art, asia, Bayon Temple, buddha, buddhism, buddhist, cambodia, Canon, Canon DSLR, Canon photography, Canon Rebel, Canon Rebel T6s, destination, dslr, Forest, khmer empire, King Jayavarman VII, museum, nature, nokor thom, Palace, photo, photograph, photographer, Photography, photos, siem reap, southeast asia, temple, Tourist, travel, Travel Photography, Traveller, travelling, vacation

THE MANY FACES OF TONLE SAP

Posted on August 31, 2020

A visit to Siem Reap means hopping from one ancient temple to another, however, there is another noteworthy visit nearby…the floating villages of Tonle Sap Lake. The village of Kompong Phluk is the most visited and just a few kilometers from Siem Reap. It offers a very good contrast once you finally had your fill of temples. Our private guide took us there on our last day in Siem Reap. The drive through the Cambodian countryside was truly a humbling experience. Watching people go about their lives in simplicity made me reflect on my life and how I’d like to live it moving forward.

I can no longer recall how long the drive was but I remember us parking beside a river and then hopping on a wooden boat that was to take us to the village. The water was muddy and looked like milk chocolate but with the sun out and bright I thought it provided an earthy and rustic tone to my photographs. As we sailed into the village I saw all these houses on stilts, although I didn’t expect to see a lot of human activity assuming that people stayed indoors to evade the prying eyes of tourists. Instead, we found ourselves cruising through a busy village. People busy with household chores, children playing, women paddling boats with stuff to trade, men fixing fishing nets and families just busy working together. It was fascinating to see all these people living in such an unusual environment. Of course I immediately got busy with my camera. I took a lot of photos of the houses, the river and the edge of the lake but for this post, I am featuring the many faces of Tonle Sap Lake.

THE BRIDGE TO BAYON

Posted on August 26, 2020

Angkor Thom is located in the Kingdom of Cambodia and is the last capital city of the Khmer empire. In the heart of this ancient city is the temple of Bayon, which is known for the multiple carvings of serene and smiling stone faces on its many towers. The city is surrounded by a moat and on it’s south gate entrance is a bridge lined with statues of gods and demons. Thankfully, our guide decided to have us walk through the bridge instead of driving by it so I was able to walk up to the statues and took as many photographs as my memory card can accommodate. It was such a thrilling and magical experience. I can just imagine the sense of awe people felt as they walked across this bridge many centuries ago. I’m glad they were able to preserve these archeological sites for us and for future generations to appreciate. Here are some of the photos I took of the bridge, the statues and the entrance gate to the ancient city of Angkor Thom.

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