Angkor Rice Farming
Angkor is the world’s most extensive medieval hydraulic city and the cultivation of rice around the temples continues today. Monsoon rains start the short, intense planting season in summer. The lands are flat and the work is hard, all done by humans and animals. The farmers grow enough rice for themselves to eat for the [...]
Apsaras & Devatas
Apsaras and devatas are the two types of females represented at the Angkor temples. Apsaras are the nymph-like temple dancers and devatas are the statuesque temple guardians. Nearly 2,000 of them decorate Angkor Wat, and many more grace the temples Bayon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srey, etc. The most striking thing about them is their humanity. [...]
Morning Alms
A familiar sight across Southeast Asia is the early morning alms round of the Buddhist monks. The monks walk door-to-door in the areas around their monasteries asking for their daily sustenance. Traditionally rice is given, and today people also give packaged noodles, juice, money, etc. The monks recite some text before the donors, who are [...]
Butterfly Sanctuary
The Banteay Srey Butterfly Center is the largest netted butterfly enclosure in SE Asia. Big beautiful butterflies are all over Angkor but it’s great to see them in a garden setting where they’re fluttering from flower to flower. If you’re ever on the road from Siem Reap to Banteay Srey, it’s definitely worth a stop.
IKTT Reviving Cambodian Ikat
On the outskirts of Siem Reap nestled away in a tropical forest, the enlightened Institute of Khmer Traditional Textiles (IKTT) is working to restore and preserve Cambodia’s silk textile traditions. The Khmer Rouge all but obliterated the country’s artisans during the 1970s, including its weavers who produced silk ikat, one of the world’s most complex [...]
Apsara Dance
One day at Angkor Wat I stumbled onto a rare performance of traditional Apsara dance at the temple and happily photographed away. Apsaras are female spirits or celestial nymphs in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies. They’re young, beautiful, magical and, not surprisingly, excellent dancers. Apsara dances tell classical myths inspired by the Cambodian version of the [...]
Angkor Portrait
This is one of my favorite portraits from Cambodia so far. The colors and light aren’t special, but the woman is. It was a Sunday afternoon and she was alone, watching the busloads of tourists entering Angkor Wat. She’s probably a rice farmer who lives in the area surrounding the Angkor temples. She was wonderfully [...]
I Dream of Angkor
Oh, the years I’ve waited to see Ankgor! Even though half the world and practically every photographer have visited these temples already, and even though it’s sometimes as crowded as an Asian theme park, that doesn’t detract from the experience of being here and soaking it all up. It’s truly magnificent. I love how it’s [...]
