So many things to tell about Cambodia…so many superlatives, so many unique sceneries and so many smiles! But Cambodia, its also so many wastes, so much poverty, unemployment and so many disabled people…
Prosperous during the old Khmer civilization, the Great Kingdom of Cambodia went then consecutively through the French Indochina period, the Vietnam war and the Khmer Rouge genocide orchestered by Pol Pot…
It’s only in the 90s that the country finally finds peace again…
If the Kingdom was once an Icon in Southern Asia, it is nowadays only the crums of a collapsed empire… Ranked as the 5th poorest country in the world according to some studies, most of the population lives with a couple of dollars a day and kids are often (not to say always) working barefoot in the streets…
Travelling through the countryside makes you wonder how people can be so smilly and generous after the Hell the went through…the consequence of this violent history is first highlighted by the pyramid of ages: 50% of the population is less than 16 years old…kids are running everywhere in the country (that will be next on my website)! It is more difficult to spot some older people.

3 weeks in Cambodia makes you realise how lucky you are to be born in Europe, with electricity 24/7, drinkinbale water to drink, take your shower, flush the toilet or wash your car…and food as far as your eyes can see…

This serie is only about the Temples spread all around the country, but mainly located a few kilometers north of Siem Rep. The monsoon season was certainly more humide but had a huge advantage…there are not many tourists and it was a Big Bonus for shooting photos and for the visits in general. I had of course to be patient for some of them, but i was most of the time litteraly alone face to face with the amazing union of ruins and Jungle.

Angkor Wat was stunning but its only one of the 267 temples of the area…I was litteraly like a kid discovering this majestic piece of art…I was trying to imagine the feelings of the first explorers who discovered it at the summum of its beauty, still intact from the robbers, 420 years ago.
A Portuguese monk who visited it in 1586 said that it “is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen… It has towers and decorations and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of”.

The few pictures of Angkor Wat on my website are people free as I paid a guardian 8 dollars to be left alone in the temple after closing time…the best 8 dollars ever spent! No need to describe the feeling of being alone in a Unesco site that welcomes a mere 2.2 millions tourists a year…
The other temples are also really impressive, even though less famous.

I guess the photos will speak better than my text, so enjoy!

More photos to come soon,

Jrm

PS: A big Thanks to Chhavivan and her lovely family!