Photography Thailand Forum

[mahonyWeb]

It appears a few people have recommendations of tour guides and hotels etc.

If you'd be kind enough to either PM me, or e-mail me at: mahonyweb at googlemail.com I'd be very appreciative :)

[kinginexile]

Maybe, kerbin, but I would double-check the real origin of the crushed temple. Guides have an habit of saying what makes a good story, which repeated over years, becomes "true" (1).
The french were the first to see the incredible civilizational value of Angkor Wat, and bless the cambodians, but whithout the mean and bad colonialits, Angkor Wat would be an unretrievable lump of rocks now.

(1) inversely, you will rarely hear a guide speak of the looting by powerful cambodians (usually in uniform, but with connivance in the civil govnmt), that keeps going on, save  in places where the ex-colonials like France and other imperialist powers have finally convinced the authorities in protecting them.

[CW Lawrence]

Not to mention Thailand's iplicit support for the Cambodian antiquities trade...

back on topic tough; I highly recommend the Two Dragons in Siem Reap, Bunny the Tuk Tuk driver is a great guide, Overland from Bangkok is cheapest but quite a journey as the road from Poipet is a mess this time of year (flooded-out), Pnom Penh is utterly depressing but almost a must for the Khmere Rouge history (though you can still find quite a lot in Siem Reap), and don't worry too much about overcrowding and such, its one of the wonders of the world so over-tourism is to be expected, yet its a big place and still has its charm and allure...

[Kerbin]

Maybe, kerbin, but I would double-check the real origin of the crushed temple. Guides have an habit of saying what makes a good story, which repeated over years, becomes "true" (1).
The french were the first to see the incredible civilizational value of Angkor Wat, and bless the cambodians, but whithout the mean and bad colonialits, Angkor Wat would be an unretrievable lump of rocks now.

(1) inversely, you will rarely hear a guide speak of the looting by powerful cambodians (usually in uniform, but with connivance in the civil govnmt), that keeps going on, save  in places where the ex-colonials like France and other imperialist powers have finally convinced the authorities in protecting them.

Fair call on the "hand me down stories" kinginexile.

Although "Beuk" our guide, was most informative on anything we asked. His families story during the period Pol Pot decided to "wind back the clock" will stay with me forever.  I think what impressed me the most with this guide was that with all the atrosoties that his country (and himself) have witnessed, they have moved on without forgetting what was.
Anyway, I saw more "out of the way" interests around Ankor than any others. Mainly because no-one else was there. A real bonus, was witnessing part of the locals "Songkran" festival at the resevior wall. Talk about stick out in the crowd. lol

I had no intention of giving the French a spray here, in fact the job they did in Phom Phen is world class. I bet there a few cities in AU that wished had a Boulavard such as their's.

I stayed at the De Ankor hotel which was walking distance to Siem Reap central, and fell out of the Red Piano Bar. lol.

[kinginexile]

"wind back the clock"   can you expand just a little?

I was myself fortunate to meet in the bus a cambodian who had not been back to his country since 1975, when his whole family excapes thru the night to Vietnam. They were from Kratie, quite a mandarin family then in town, to see hsi town thru his eyes, and especially the sadness of what happened to it, and of course, all the stories of dealing with the ominous Khmer rouges (they were ruling Kratie way before they governed the country), but also the greediness of Sihanook, well that was an education, and also fascinating as you may guess. We are good friends now, as well. 

[CW Lawrence]

"Wind back the clock" = Pol Pot declared "year zero" on Cambodia when he took control. His idea was to start the whole civilization process over; thereby taking everyone from the cities and sending them to the fields. This also included executing everyone who was not inclined to manual labor; doctors, lawyers, aristocrats, and especially teachers (ironic because Pol Pot himself was once a teacher).

[kinginexile]

sorry, I misread, i thought something specific happened  to the family of your guide which he subsequently called "wind back the clock".

[danny88]

The place is very historic and quite challenging to snap

[mahonyWeb]

Believe it or not, having started this topic 2 years ago, I'm only just about to visit Angkor. If anybody wishes to add any more advice or information please feel free to do so :)

While my wife stays in Thailand, my sister and I are heading to Siem Reap for 4 days and hope to be staying at: http://www.peaceofangkor.com/

We'll be buying a 3 day pass and hope to have a car and guide to take us around.

Any advice would be very much appreciated, and any photos would be great too :)

[mahonyWeb]

We're currently two days into a four day trip until we fly back into Thailand to meet up with family.

As I'm on a capped internet connection the photos are relatively small.

Here are a few shots of the trip so far:

[Marc Schultz]

Nice backlight on the first one. I also like the compositions very much on the 6th and 9th photos. The 9th one is really great. Nice job!

[epixx]

I particularly like the last one. How would that look in b&w?

[mahonyWeb]

Thanks guys, much appreciated :)

epixx - I liked the tones of the colour version and so didn't attempt a B&W. I may try later.

Here's a few more:

[anna]

My favorite of your photos is the second to the last image of your June 22 (Reply#24) posting - the door and the window.  I was in Angkor Wat few years ago.  Here is a compilation of the images I took there.   annaj.smugmug.com      Then click Travel - Angkor Wat.  I did not have an SLR then so all the photos were take by my very    s - l - o - w  Canon G5 point and shoot.  Albeit its shortcoming, it was a good trip and would go back there given the chance. 
At the airport, my son and I flagged down a taxi (more like a Land Rover jeep) and ended up hiring the driver as a guide for the whole trip.  He was great.  I asked him to take us to the top three famous temples only.  The rest I requested him to take me the squatter area along the river, also to where the rich live, the school, where the monks live, and finally the market at its busiest time. 
It was an interesting trip.  I recently finished a photo book on that particular trip. 

[Jeff Jarvis]

Nice shots. Looks like you know what your doing.