Tag Archives: southeast asia

Jun 14 2012
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Cambodia Video

VIDEO: In the Shadows of Angkor, Cambodia

Turn on HD for best quality.

Angkor Wat Cambodia is one of the spiritual  power centers  on this earth and has the ability to humble all who walk through its root covered ruins.   After being slightly traumatized by our filming of the Full Moon Party on Ko Phan Ngan, it was nice to get back to Bangkok and make the journey to Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the Angkor temples.  I had made the journey in 2005 when the road between the border of Thailand, Poipet and Siem Reap was just a mangled pot holed mess.   The journey was infamous for being torturous as backpackers and their backpacks would be crammed into the back of a pick up truck  for a 8 hour journey.   When I did it, a guitar was stolen from us and it lived up to its hellish reputation.  This time however, it went much smoother although it wasn’t without its hickups.    We made the journey in the relative comfort of a first class bus from Bangkok to the border and then got a  ride in a mini van to Siem Reap.    We found a recommended driver and scheduled him to be our guide for the next two days.   We started our first day before dawn as we wanted to take some photos as the vine and root covered Ta Prom temple at sunrise.    It was a beautiful experience as we were the only ones there for the first hour and has the magical ruins to ourselves.   As the sun came up the heat and humidity were punishing with the temperatures reaching 108 degrees.  We were covered with sweat but that did not stop us from seeing most of the temples, some of which are 20 miles apart from one another.

Photos and videos cannot do justice to the experience of being at the temples, but we hope this video can give you a small taste of the sites and sounds of Angkor.

We will be posting a large photo gallery of Angkor in the next week, so keep your eyes peeled for our next post.

Enjoy!

-Ben

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May 19 2012
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Thailand Video

VIDEO: Swimming with Giants: Whale Sharks in Thailand

While staying on Koh Phan Ngan in Southern Thailand, we ventured to the north east of the island and heard rumors that a friendly Whale Shark, the holy grail for a lot of divers, had been seen the previous days. The whale shark is a harmless “shark” and more akin to a whale, being the largest of the fish species. Dark grey with white spots it can grow to be up to 42 feet long and weigh 47,000 pounds!! We booked a spot with a local dive operator to the dive sight Sail Rock, a large rock jutting out of the ocean halfway between Koh Tao and Koh Phan Ngan. The two dives were some of the most magical dives we had ever done with thousands of fish in schools, encircling us as well as turtles, barracudas, and lion fish encounters. On the second dive we were rewarded with multiple visits from a very friendly Whale Shark. It swam by us several times throughout the dive and even came up to the surface to say hello to the snorkelers. We were exhilarated and at the end of the dive came to the surface whooping and slapping high fives with each other. An experience not to be forgotten and we are grateful to have captured it on film.
Enjoy!

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Apr 26 2012
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Laos Image

Laos Snapshots and Imagery

Some snapshots of life, nature, and tradition in Laos.

The lovely and mysterious Nam Ou River moves through Northern Laos slowly. This photo overlooks the river from the Nong Khiaw bridge in the small town of the same name. The sky was becoming cloudy and misty–a wonderful break from the smoke of Luang Prabang. We stayed here one night before venturing further north upriver to Muang Ngoi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed a cold drink from this village “cafe” while overlooking quiet rice paddies, misty moutaintops, and the sound of village life in the background. Ban Na village, Muang Ngoi.

 

 

 

 

 

Beerlao, produced just a few kilometers away from this cafe in Vientiene, Laos, it is “world famous” and the only beer to drink if you are in Laos. Laotions are very proud of their highly respected brew, apparently named by Time magazine to be Asia’s best local beer.  It is crisp but smooth and for a buck, you cannot go wrong!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laos’ capitol city of Vientiene may not have the hottest nightlife, but if you’re willing to show your stuff in front of the locals, we had a blast at a few late night rounds of bowling. Best of all was the old Brunswick 2000 equipment, which took us both back to our 1980’s childhoods.

 

 

 

 

 

Brightly colored ribbons are wrapped around trees, this one here in Vientiene, as a Buddhist offering to the spirits believed to be residing within.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed an afternoon getting out of town to visit the Lao Textile Museum. The museum exhibited weaving styles, dying, traditional clothing in a quiet and gorgeous gardened setting. They also offered classes and workshops. Here the caretaker is showing us how fabric dye is made. The top left corner is the indigo plant, grown on the grounds, and dozens of clay urns were holding dye, which was fermenting over a period of several weeks. The dye appeared green until mixed, then becoming a deep bright blue.

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