More Temples

Ta Phrom was one of our favorite temples. You might recognize the site where Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed, and if you do, then I'm sorry because that was one. bad. movie. Seriously. Our guide told us that the government solicits information from official guides regularly as to how people feel about the temples, the restoration, etc. I think that the restored temples are beautiful, but I loved the ones that show the ravages of time. The whole Indiana Jones thing, you know? It’s really eerily beautiful. Our guide said that a lot people said the same thing—that some temples should be restored, but others should have the decay preserved, which is a funny idea when you think about it.

I love how the tree roots ooze down over the buildings like melted wax. Some of them looked like legs of an ancient dinosaur, or the trunk from a prehistoric elephant.

In one of the main temple buildings, looking up. It's so tall! What's more amazing, though, are the walls. Looking closer, each one of the holes was filled with a precious jewel...rubies, emeralds, diamonds, pearls...it must have been amazing.

I love the contrasts and textures. Photography was challenging....by 9:00 the sun was so bright that it washed out all the pics. It was hard to capture the right balance of light and shadow. Most of our shots did end up too bright, I think--but as most of these were done by Cameron, I think he did a really nice job.