The Andy Aupperlee Explosion 5000

This image comes from a temple outside of Siem Reap. Ryan and I spent the sunrise at Angkor Wat and then wandered around the surrounding temples during the day. Ryan noticed this monk taking some notes in a window and suggested I make a picture. I took several shots over the course of a few seconds and kept walking. Even though I only spent a few moments to take this picture, it turned out to be one of my favorites from the trip.

This picture comes from the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Like the photo above, I used a circular polarizing filter.

The journey to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap was about as interesting as the destination. Ryan and I departed Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam by bus enroute to Phnom Penh. At the Cambodian border we encountered a very bizarre process. A guide collected our passports and instructed us to get off the bus. Without any explicit direction, we were ushered into a large building with security guards, metal detectors, and bag scanners. I literally walked through the building and out a door on the other side, bypassing Vietnamese and Cambodians waiting in line for who knows what. Once out the door a man herded our tour group back on the bus. No one had their passports and everyone looked at each other with puzzled faces. The bus proceeded down the road (now in Cambodia) for about a mile. We pulled over at some kind of immigration station and our passports were finally returned to us with the appropriate stamps and Cambodian visas. Welcome to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Road conditions in Cambodia were noticeably different than Vietnam. Half the time we traveled on a dirt road, and we were always driving right down the center. Scooters, bicylces, and mule-drawn carts dodged us as we plunged into the heart of Cambodia. It was not uncommon for the bus to swerve because cattle and other livestock were standing in the center of the road. The Cambodian countryside is substantially more rural and underdeveloped than neighboring Vietnam. The contrast in living conditions is very stark.

After a ferry crossing and a few more hours of Cambodian traffic, we reached Phnom Penh. Several days later we embarked on a similar bus trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Although traveling by bus to these cities was fascinating, I was glad to board a plane in Siem Reap to get back into Vietnam. While it does take longer, it is definitely worth the time to take ground transportation at least one way when moving through Southeast Asia.