Each of the 23 towers of Angkor Thom, one of the largest sub-cities inside Angkor Wat, is covered with these faces. Like many of the remaining ruins, this one was built by king Jayavarman VII, whose face has been combined with Buddha’s throughout the city to create a combined royal and religious imposing presence that permeates the city.
After the crowds of Angkor Wat, it was nice to go find a remote temple in the jungle and be alone. This temple laid under the jungle, completely undiscovered for centuries.
The hallway and mysterious chambers seemed to go on forever.
BTW, if you go to Angkor Wat and you want a good tour guide, contact “Eath Soratanak.” You can call him “Tak.” He can be reached at [email protected] or at (855) 92 725 552. He speaks English almost as well as Sir Anthony Hopkins and has an accent somewhere between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Larry Flynt.
I arrived at this remote Cambodian temple late in the afternoon and was immediately descended upon by about a dozen children, all offering me locally made goods for $1.
"One dollar sir! One dollar sir!" they all whined, offering me baskets full of beads.
"You are so handsome!" they all screamed. I asked them if I could pay them $1 to follow me around all day and yell that aloud. I thought that would be a real bargain to bring them into meetings with me and have them in the corner constantly commenting on how good-looking I am.
I happened to be sitting there for several minutes trying to swap out my lens, and these two girls were the most persistant and the best salespeople. I asked if I could give them each a dollar, pick out a few bracelets, and take their photograph. They (obviously) happily agreed!
This gatehouse sits on one side of the moat of Angkor Wat. We were not supposed to be inside the gate this late but my monk friend has some pull with the locals.
Sunset on a hilltop near Angkor Wat.
This was shot outside the defensive gatehouse of Angkor Wat with a backdrop of the moat in the distance. I also used the new technique here that I will be detailing in an upcoming tutorial. This is an HDR shot, which you can read about in my previous tutorial here.
The picture I posted yesterday was not of the real Mount Everest… it was of Disneyworld. I thought someone would notice but I guess it was too tricky! I’ve never been to Everest… I bet the pictures would hardly ever be that clear.
Below is a picture of the main temple at Angkor Wat just after sunrise:
Angkor Wat is filled with hundreds of ancient old tombs, rooms, and chambers of various design. This is taken from inside the quincunx of the main temple, while a monk stood silently just outside the doorway during his morning devotions.
