Travel Diary: Siem Reap, Cambodia

Recently, a last minute opportunity came up and I jumped at the chance to have a sneaky weekend in Siem Reap. Home to the temples of Angkor Wat, the last time I got a chance to visit Siem Reap was this past February on a similar last minute decision. I mentioned a slick shiny airport in the last blog post and, as I walked off the plane, I was greeted by a bigger, newer, shinier, airport. By bigger, l mean massive. Towering ceilings, seemingly endless gates, around a 10 minute walk from gate to immigration, it dwarfs the Saigon Airport. Just for a bit of context, Siem Reap, with its population of 250,000 people had 2 million people travel through their previous airport last year while Saigon, with its population of 10 million, accommodates nearly 40 million folks each year. I hope the size of the new airport doesn’t indicate the projected growth in visitors to this little corner of Cambodia. The thought of that many people swarming Angkor Wat makes my head explode.

As I hopped in my transport to the city, I asked the driver how long it would be as I had to hop on afternoon call, and the response of “around an hour” was a bit jaw dropping given the small size of Siem Reap. It’s not like you need to drive across a sprawling metropolis to get to land that would accommodate an airport. In any event, after I spent the hour commute trying to wrap my head around this new airport, I remembered how much I love coming here. Life slows waaaaaaaay down, the countryside is gorgeous, and all that red dirt reminds me of my Georgia roots. Pair that instant slowdown with the awe-inspiring temples of Angkor and I’m a happy man. I only ventured out to the temples for an afternoon, but it paid off in spades. Incredible light completely complemented a nearly perfect backdrop and provided just the cure for the hustle and bustle of everyday life in Saigon.

I’ll be posting more of these images over on Instagram so go give that a follow if you’re digging these.

Travel Diary: Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor

Recently, I had the opportunity to hop over to Siem Reap to revisit the temples of Angkor for the first time in 9 years. My previous visit was my first to Cambodia and within 6 months of moving back to Southeast Asia. Needless to say, it was an incredible trip to an absolutely magical place. The temples of Angkor are out of a storybook to say the least. It was a lesson in very early rises to avoid the crowds and to see the temples at their very best. Moments of stillness as the sun peaked through the jungle burned some truly unforgettable memories into my mind. So, when the time came to take a weekender, I was quick to jump at the chance. I wondered how Siem Reap, the city just a few kilometers outside of the temple complex, had changed over the last decade. Had it fallen victim to overdevelopment and lost its charm? Had it survived the pandemic? Would the magic I experienced exploring the temples still be there years later? I had so many questions. One way to find out, right?

I opted to fly into Siem Reap this time and was greeted by a slick, shiny airport. You can tell tourist dollars have been put into it to support this Unesco World Heritage destination. Apparently a new airport is being built now, so I’m curious to see how this one will compare. Siem Reap seems to have weathered the storm of the pandemic with tourists already back, albeit not at pre ‘Rona numbers. Honestly, it feels like a happy medium right now as it felt completely unsustainable the last time I was here. Tour busses clogged the roads, temples felt like ant hills crawling with tour groups - it felt hectic. Not exactly what I envisioned when 1000 year-old sacred temples came to mind. In any event, while tourists are back and the economy has seemed to have rebounded, it didn’t feel like navigating a stampede within the temple complex. Quiet moments were abundant, yet the town didn’t feel like a ghost town like so many other destinations following the last two years. It was a nice balance. I hope the reopening of the world won’t cause this to devolve into the roving hoard of zombies it was pre-pandemic. Here’s to wishful thinking…

As far as photography goes, I made the call to leave the Sony kit at home in favor of traveling fast and light with my Fuji X100S. I picked this little guy up in a trade this year and have been playing around with it around Saigon. While it’s so fun to have a lightweight camera around my neck all the time, I’m not gonna lie, leaving the “proper camera” at home was giving me anxiety. That said, I felt like I needed to rip the band-aid off and jump into the deep end. Immediately, it changed the way I shot and travelled. A small point and shoot is certainly lower profile and almost went unnoticed in the quiet, intimate moments. My back also thanked me as I wasn’t hauling around a few lenses and a heavier camera body. Travel flowed and it felt a bit more free in my movements. The equivalent of a 35mm lens is a perfect walk around focal length and allowed me to focus on the moments in front of me rather than thinking about which lens was the best option for each situation. Liberating, really. Although portraits weren’t in the cards with this setup, I was more interested in street and travel photography so not a big loss there. This camera was more than capable for what I was after and the files were great in the edit. I’d be more than happy printing these in bigger formats. I’m couldn’t recommend giving this a try more.

As always, have a look at my IG and give a follow over there for more images like this. And now on to some of my favourite frames.