SGTrekker 4D Angkor Wat Photo Tour (4-7 Oct '12)

[limwhow]

So how?
Bo bian lor...
We drove the bus all the way back to the hotel...
And we slept.
And we woke up.
And we made our way to the Roulous Market.


Roulous Market..

Here Thay was talking to some of us as we were dispersing to the local market.
This market is interesting because it is very local and has little tourists.

AlexK simply buay tahan whenever he sees bicycles.
Even the lao pok-gai bicycles here in the Roulous market also intrigues him...
"Woooaaaah! Hey guys, look! So many bicycles! Wah... our friends back at home will go crazy over these vintage bicycles!" AlexK exclaimed.

"Wah, limwhow... see! So many cigarettes of different brands!" exclaimed AlexK.

 

[SereneXMM]

I didn't shoot any photos at this market because I was Santa Claus. I was giving away snacks to the children. :bsmilie:

 

[limwhow]

Thay was telling us about Roulous.
Roulous was one of the ancient capital before it was moved 17km north-west to where Angkor Wat was.
Why was there the move?
Apparently it was because this area got flooded very regularly and it became unproductive for the king and his people.

But here today Roulous still has a buzzling local village community.

Our objectives on this day was to cover:

• Roulous Market
• Bakhong school
• Lolei Temple
• And after lunch - Ta Prohm, the famous Tomb Raider temple.

But meanwhile, we go ahead to Roulous market.
This is really a pretty small market, selling fresh vegetables, meat and poultry and provisions.

Smiles of Roulous...

The lovely smile of a pretty young Cambodian girl.

Laughing together while they work.

Looking at our group and laughing...

Another toothy smile, Cambodian style.

 

[limwhow]

The children of Roulous...

 

[LowLights]

The children of Roulous...

This one is so CUTE !

 

[AlexK]

After the Bayon temple, we visited a fishing village on the Tonle Sap.

#42 : It is a small and poor fishing village with single main road.

#43 : Fisherman selling his catch for the day to local trader.

#44 : Floating provision shop in this village

#45 : Workers washing sawdust off the block of ice. Sawdust is used to prevent the ice from melting.

#46 : This old lady is selling the local Cambodian style KFC.

 

[AlexK]

I guess life in this fishing village is rather simple. Children still running around barefooted or naked and playing with sticks & stones.


#47 : Want to copy me ah !

#48 :

#49 : And they don't mind us taking their photos.

 

[limwhow]

I guess life in this fishing village is rather simple. Children still running around barefooted or naked and playing with sticks & stones.





#49 : And they don't mind us taking their photos.

Hahaha... what a scene! Some more the expression and action is so timely!

 

[limwhow]

En route to Bakong School...

After the Roulous Market, Adrian had it planned out for us to visit one of the rural schools.
This school is called Bakong School and it is not far from the Roulous Market.
The interesting thing is.. the small access roads are all single lane, and vehicles have to gingerly pass each other..
One of the big buses got derailed off from the road and actually gotten its side trapped...
Anyway, here is the view from the bus out onto the single lane road...

... and here we are, the school.

Adrian, in his usual style, said: "Don't give them candies. Try not to, because their dental hygiene may suffer. Give them stationery if you have."
Spying on the teacher inside? Haha.. maybe he got disallowed from the class cos he doesn't have money to buy uniform.

Many of the village young children cycle hand-me-down-bicycles which are way too high for them.
But they cycle with such deftness that their short legs seem not to be bothered by the lack of reach onto the pedals, nor are they bothered by the lack of brake.

[whooo hoo.. I love the glow of the Canon 50mm f/1.2 LTM. LOL...]

 

[limwhow]

This SereneXMM is really one kind one.. Hang so many cameras also didn't shoot much.
She literally just walked around and be Santa Claus.. LOL..

Clickable...

[I really really like the glow of the Canon 50mm f/1.2 LTM lens. Vintage!]

 

[SereneXMM]

This SereneXMM is really one kind one.. Hang so many cameras also didn't shoot much.
She literally just walked around and be Santa Claus.. LOL..

Clickable...

[I really really like the glow of the Canon 50mm f/1.2 LTM lens. Vintage!]

Wow I am really XMM in this shot. So nice! Two XMMs together. :cheergal::bsmilie:.
But I got take photo. I took this photo.

 

[limwhow]

Lolei Temple

Adrian said: "If we have time, we will go to Bakong Temple for sunset this evening."
But saying is just saying lah.. for we ended up not visiting Bakong Temple.
We did, however, passed by Lolei Temple along the way.
This Lolei temple is a tiny little Hindu temple built in the 9th century by King Yasovarman I for his Father.
The unique thing about this temple was that it was built in the middle of an artificial lake that has long since dried up.

 

[limwhow]

At Lolei temple, we shot until there is nothing much to shoot.
I told Thay: "Hey, can you turn around with your arm badge..? I want a shot of that lovely Tour Guide badge.."

 

[SereneXMM]

We really shoot until nothing to shoot and we shoot each other. Here Limwhow is climbing up to the top of the temple and shooting everybody down there.

AlexK looking for monks in Lolei Temple.

and then monks came.

shoot until spider web also can shoot.

 

[limwhow]

Bye bye Lolei Temple...

OK, time to go for lunch.
We are all hungry. So off we went the 14km from Roulous back to our hotel in Siem Reap...

.. and Lunch and a nice nap...
Lunch awaited us... back in the hotel.

The special thing about shooting in Angkor Wat is, we usually do get a generous couple of hours of nap time around noon. Every day.
That's so great because after lunch, we would sleep. And after a good nap, we wake up fresh to cheong another site again!
What more can we ask for, right?

.. knowing well what awaits us this afternoon...

 

[limwhow]

Ta Prohm...!!


Aaahh... Finally!
The Tomb Raider's tomb. As famous as dilapidated as can be.
Lara Croft's concur, in the movie world. The whole place smacks of mystery and adventure.

Ta Prohm, originally called Rajavihara, was constructed by King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century as a Buddhist monastery.
Many parts of the derelict temple are still left un-restored.
To me, this is the highlight of the trip, even more so then Angkor Wat.
Because I have always wanted to find myself deep in the belly of Ta Prohm and imagine myself as a sexy buxomy long-legged creature with pistols strapped onto my arms and legs walking through the tunnels and doorways of the abandoned temple.


Video of SgTrekkers entering Ta Prohm...
[video=youtube_share;zIjWtZTufl8]http://youtu.be/zIjWtZTufl8[/video]

 

[SereneXMM]

My Ta Prohm shots.

 

[limwhow]

Is this THE tree...?

No, apparently note.
Too many people here...
Some were saying that there is another bigger grander one further back...


[video=youtube_share;tqKZL8LazcA]http://youtu.be/tqKZL8LazcA[/video]

 

[AlexK]

Our boat trip took us to a Vietnamese refugee village in the Tonle Sap whereby this entire community depends on this lake for their livelihood.


#50 : Some of them are living in boat houses while others are living in water houses. These water houses are built on bamboos (to keep is floating) while

#51 : ...... some water houses are built on empty oil barrels.

#52 : Ladies preparing food to cook for dinner

#53 : Moving around by boats only.

 

[AlexK]

#54 : Of course, those who could afford would travel in motorized boats

#55 : Not only using boats, these people could move on the water using styrofoam boxes or metal basin.
These young girls posing with pythons (I think) for their pictures to be taken for a small fee.

#56 : Had enough of taking photos of girls with pythons. Better to shoot serenexmm, limwhow and vngks with their full gears. So stilo milo.

#57 : Sunset in the Tonle Sap.