LA RÉSIDENCE D’ANGKOR

Posted on May 30, 2021

During my trip to Cambodia in November of 2019, I was tossing between the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor and the Belmond La Residence d’Angkor for my accommodations. After reading multiple reviews and watching countless Youtube videos, I decided to go for Belmond. The hotel features Khmer architecture surrounded by a lush tropical garden creating a sense of being in the middle of the forest despite being situated right in the heart of the city. The resort is one of the first luxury hotels to open in Siem Reap and is renowned for its luxurious accommodations and excellent service. Here are some of the photos I took around the hotel as well as of my suite overlooking the magnificent pool, which I think is the centerpiece of the entire resort.

 Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Architecture, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, City, Destinations, Elements, Engineering, Entertainment, Flowers, Forest, fountain, Gardening, GoPro, Hotel, iPhone Pics, Landscapes, Nature, Panorama, People, Photography, Plants, Random, Sculpture, Statue, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, WATER, Weather    Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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LADIES OF THE MOAT

Posted on May 28, 2020

I’ve always wondered what my initial reaction would be when I see Angkor Wat for the first time. Would it be a jaw dropping moment? Would it take my breath away? Or would it be a disappointing experience? My anticipation was further built up as the sunrise experience I signed up for was cancelled due to inclement weather. I was able to go later in the day, once the rain stopped, however the sun just made a very brief appearance that day. I was looking forward to photograph every nook and corner of the temple that day but the gloomy weather made photography a challenge resulting to less vibrant shots. The moment I stepped out of the van, my heart started to beat insanely, and got wilder the closer I was to the temple. For a moment, I thought my heart stopped beating when I stepped up to this flatform and saw the Angkor Wat complex rising majestically across this body of water, which I initially thought was a river but later found out was a moat. It was such a magical moment…an experience I would cherish for the rest of my life. In the moat I noticed this boat with four women scooping what looked like reeds out of the water. I got riveted to what they were doing including the pile of reeds on their boat, which I thought made an interesting shot. I immediately pulled out my camera to photograph them while at the same time captured a reflection of Angkor Wat in the water. I was there for less than 10 minutes and I already got myself these magical shots. Angkor Wat is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen and I made sure I took as many photographs as possible, all of which I would feature in my next few posts. For today, photos of these ladies cleaning the moat stole the show from Angkor Wat and will be the main feature of this post.

 Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Archeology, Architecture, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, Castle, clouds, Destinations, Elements, Engineering, Forest, Historical Site, Landmarks, Landscapes, Monument, Museums, Nature, Panorama, People, Photography, Plants, Random, Religious Shrine, Rivers, Ruins, Sculpture, Skylines, Street Photography, Temples, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized, WATER, Weather    Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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LILIES D’ANGKOR

Posted on April 11, 2020

966AFBDB-F689-4D49-BB50-26443D976273During my trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, I stayed at the Belmond La Residence D’Angkor Hotel. This luxury hotel is situated right in the heart of town and the lush foliage all over the property makes you feel like you’re in the middle of a tropical forest. Just outside of the main lobby is a pond filled with beautiful purple and white water lilies. As soon as I saw them I knew I needed to photograph such mystical blooms. I took these photos late in the afternoon when lighting was no longer harsh and the sun was casting shadows in the water. I love how the dark pond waters made the color of the lilies brighter and richer. In Cambodian culture, the water lily is a symbol of purity, spontaneous generation and divine birth while for Buddhists, it is a symbol of enlightenment.

 Category: ancient cities, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, City, Destinations, Elements, Flowers, Forest, fountain, Gardening, Hotel, Nature, Photography, Plants, Portrait, Random, Street Photography, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, WATER    Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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TA PROHM

Posted on March 18, 2020

The ancient temple of Ta Prohm was the first archeological site I visited in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The complex was just breathtaking with the roots of trees growing out of the ruins. In fact, this temple looks exactly in the same condition in which it was found. During this leg of my Asian trip, I hired a tour guide to show me around for five days and he was very informative about the places we visited. Unfortunately, I was too busy taking photos that I immediately forgot the trivias he told me as soon as we left the ruins. Yikes! The only thing I remember about Ta Phrom was it being used as set for the film Tomb Raider. Here are some of the hundreds of photographs I took around this magnificent complex.

 Category: Adventure, ancient cities, Archeology, Architecture, Art, asia, Canon, Canon DSLR, City, Destinations, Elements, Engineering, Forest, Historical Site, Landmarks, Monument, Museums, National Park, Nature, Panorama, Photography, Plants, Religious Shrine, Ruins, Sculpture, Statue, Temples, Tourist, Travel, Travel Photos, trees, Uncategorized    Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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