temples | Don't Miss The Boat

Jun 14 2012

VIDEO: In the Shadows of Angkor, Cambodia

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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

Tagged ancient temples, angkor, angkor wat, banyon, benjamin jones, cambodia, carvings, Don't Miss the Boat, dulcimer, hindu, hindu temples, khemer, na kan, na prom, natural wonders, seam reap, siem reap, south east Asia, south east asia trip, southeast asia, stone carvings, ta prom, temple ruines, temple ruins, temples, things to see in cambodia, travel blog, travel video, video, wonders of the world, www.dontmisstheboat.org

Apr 09 2012

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Thailand Video

VIDEO: Reflections of Wat Doi Suthep-Chiang Mai Thailand

Ever since the first time I visited Wat Doi Suthep over ten years ago with my Mom, I have appreciated coming back and re-visiting the hill top temple. Once visitors have climbed the 309 steps up, they are rewarded with views over Chiang Mai and the peaceful and contemplative setting of the temple, although this visit the view was obscurred by thick smoke from the slash and burn agriculture (more on that in our next post).

Shana and I raced up the hill on a motorbike as the sun was setting and by the time we had climbed the steps we were out of breath. The last slice of sunlight illuminated the golden chedi and buddhas beautifully and we got to watch the monks doing their sunset chants and prayers. Most of the other tourists were long gone so we got to enjoy the temple in peace.

This short video shares some of the sights and sounds of the temple and I hope conveys some of the meditative aspects that I have come to enjoy.

-Ben