Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

This week’s topic for the weekly photo challenge is “Inside” and our own interpretations and compositions for it. My post for this is from the Ta Prohm temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This is a temple complex where the temple walls and trees have merged to become one entity and it is difficult to decipher who is supporting whom. You can read my detailed post on it here.

In this complex, I found this apsara peeking through a tree trunk, such that she looked to be “Inside” a tree trunk.

The apsara inside a tree trunk, Ta Prohm, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Things to Do in Cambodia (apart from the temples)

Whenever you talk to people about visiting Cambodia, the first thing they say is – “visit the Angkor Wat Temples” and if some people know a bit more than they talk about visiting the Khmer Rouge rule and the killing fields etc in Phnom Penh. But after my trip to Cambodia, I discovered that this country has so much more to offer (apart from the normal touristy stuff mentioned in various websites and guidebooks) that one should definitely incorporate in their travel itineraries. So I have decided to list down a few things that I feel you should definitely keep time for whenever you decide to visit this beautiful country.

• Interact with local people – This is one of my most recommended things to do here. The local population here is very poor (yes I felt that even after coming from India) and have suffered immensely under the Khmer Rouge rule (every person you meet here has lost numerous family members to this tragedy). Still they are open to talk about the history, about what happened, how they lost their family, the politics, how they survived against all odds, etc etc. And the best part is that during this entire conversation, they talk about moving forward and their future plans for their kids. So much so that you really feel like lauding them for their courage, hard work and positivity. This encounter also helped me thank god once again for what I have and am in life. Also, if you are into portrait photography, then you will find very interesting models in people and kids around here.

Monks at the temples of Siem Reap

Reaching Siem Reap from Poipet

Cambodia is not a very easy place to reach, more so if you are budget traveler and looking to save money. It is not as well-connected by flights and the tickets are normally quite expensive. So, for my own budget trip, I had to put in numerous hours of research on the net and speak with loads of people and travel agents to decipher the best and cheapest way to reach Siem Reap. Since I had put in so much of an effort, I decided to write a detailed post on the best ways to reach Siem Reap from Bangkok for my other fellow travelers who too are struggling as I was.

Since the post is very long I have split it into 3 parts –

1. Part 1 – Bangkok to Aranyaprathet (Aran) Border (Thai border) by train, bus, mini-vans or taxi. – Already done and available at http://wp.me/p29z7S-iT
2. Part 2 – Visa requirements, Visa on arrival Vs e-visa in Cambodia, the Border Crossing and the various scams near the border at http://wp.me/p29z7S-jo
3. Part 3 – Transport from Poipet Border (Cambodia border) to Seam Reap by bus or taxi.

This post is part 3 of this 3 post series and in this I shall cover on how to travel from the Poipet border to the city of Siem Reap. This journey (Poipet to Siem Reap) takes about 2 – 4 hours (depending on your mode of transportation) and is best covered during day light hours.

Pic courtesy – http://www.jasminelodge.com

Cambodia – Visas, Border Crossings and Scams

Cambodia is not a very easy place to reach, more so if you are budget traveler and looking to save money. It is not as well-connected by flights and the tickets are normally quite expensive. So, for my own budget trip, I had to put in numerous hours of research on the net and speak with loads of people and travel agents to decipher the best and cheapest way to reach Siem Reap. Since I had put in so much of an effort, I decided to write a detailed post on the best ways to reach Siem Reap from Bangkok for my other fellow travelers who too are struggling as I was.

Since the post is very long I have split it into 3 parts –

• Part 1 – Bangkok to Aranyaprathet (Aran) Border (Thai border) by train, bus, mini-vans or taxi. – Already done and available at http://wp.me/p29z7S-iT
• Part 2 – Visa requirements, Visa on arrival Vs e-visa in Cambodia, the Border Crossing and the various scams near the border.
• Part 3 – Transport from Poipet Border (Cambodia border) to Seam Reap by bus or taxi.

This post is part 2 of this 3 post series and in this I shall cover the visa requirements for visiting Cambodia, the actual border crossing experience, tips for the border crossing between Thailand to Cambodia and finally the various scams prevalent around the land borders.

Travel from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet Border (Thai border)

Cambodia is not a very easy place to reach, more so if you are budget traveler and looking to save money. It is not as well-connected by flights and the tickets are normally quite expensive. So, for my own budget trip, I had to put in numerous hours of research on the net and speak with loads of people and travel agents to decipher the best and cheapest way to reach Siem Reap. Since I had put in so much of an effort, I decided to write a detailed post on the best ways to reach Siem Reap from Bangkok for my other fellow travelers who too are struggling as I was.

Map Courtesy – http://www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srtransp.htm

Photo Essay – Trees of Cambodia

In Cambodia we saw numerous beautiful and old trees and flowers. I have already posted about the flowers at http://wp.me/p29z7S-i3, and this is a short photo essay on the various trees that we saw here.

While Cambodia is also seeing its fair share of deforestation, there are still numerous old trees around the temples and in some surviving jungles. These old trees have also created some unique shapes and backdrops, which I am sharing with you.

The tree with a face

Photo Essay – Beautiful Flora of Cambodia

During our Cambodia trip, we had a great time exploring the 2 beautiful cities of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. But along the way we also discovered that this country has some beautiful trees and flowers especially around the old temples of Siem Reap. While I’ll post a separate posts on the various trees, below is a small photo essay of the various flowers that we saw.

While I know the names of some flowers, I don’t know the names of quite a few. Hence any botanists here, please feel free to drop comments and advice.

water cabbage

A drive through the Cambodian countryside

During our Cambodia trip, we decided to travel from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh by road. The other options were by flight (too expensive) and by boat (closed in this season due to water levels); hence we decided to go by road. The journey takes about 6 – 6.5 hours (so you lose about half a day in travel) but the roads are very good and the journey is pretty comfortable.  The side benefit is – you get to see the pretty country-side and also how the majority population of this country stays and survives.

The drive through this region is very serene, beautiful and interesting. There are miles and miles of rural scenes with green paddy fields, typical bamboo houses, cattle, traps to catch locusts, local rural markets with interesting wares, etc etc. Sharing a few of those scenes that have been captured through the lens of instagram –

A slice of India in Cambodia

A visit to any new place (no matter where) is always expected to be all of the following – a different & a beautiful learning experience, a fun way to revise  history, geography and those science lessons studied and forgotten in school long ago, and to get a fresh perspective / insights into the lives and cultures of the locals.

Our recent visit to Cambodia had all of the above elements and we loved every new thing that we saw, heard and felt there. However at times I felt a major sense of familiarity in this country. Reflecting back on it, I realised it was because Cambodia had a lot of things common with India and now has quite a few things from India too (which I would have expected had it been Singapore, US etc but in Cambodia they were quite a surprise). Apart from the landscape, history and culture, we also saw numerous Indians, Indian food, Indian clothes, Indian music, Indian flag, heard Hindi from the locals, pretty much everything.  The various similarities we saw are –

Floating Village on the Tonle Sap Lake through Instagram and on Travel Pandaz

Of late I have been experiencing a kind of writers block (I use “kind of” as I am technically not a professional writer). There is this one post that I have been trying to write for the past 10 days, but despite numerous drafts, it just isn’t sounding right….sigh… Guess happens to everyone at some time or the other.

This was certainly very depressing and as I was wallowing in my depths of misery, I saw that one of my recent posts has been picked up by a travel website. I know for some it may be a very regular thing but I am super excited as this is the first time that my travel story / post has been an inspiration on another site. They have taken a couple of excerpts from my blog post on the Floating Village on Tonle Sap Lake – http://wp.me/p29z7S-dZ,  some from another blog post and added loads of more beautiful photographs of this place. You can check this article at — http://travelpandaz.com/the-unusual-view-of-floating-village-on-tonle-sap/. I am super happy and really feel a new confidence to write. Guess will now re-look at that long pending post with a fresh eye 🙂

To also keep with the theme, just adding a few more of my pics of Tonel Sap  through the lens of instagram –

The Floating Shop