Ola!Barcelona

Of sun,sea,sand and finding a hero.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Enjoy Tuscany with a glass of wine

Finding Felicity in El Nido

Pink painted skies in El Nido,Philippines

Quaint Girona

Off the beaten path in Girona

Good Morning,Vietnam

Cruise the emerald water of Hanoi

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Siem Reap: Temple Run...Game on!


With a puzzled look my friend asked "What are you going to do and see in Siem Reap?" minutes after I booked my flight. And with a cheeky grin, I replied "Angkor Wat"
I never had a firm grasp on what to expect in Siem Reap, all I know when I hit the Purchase button on the screen is that I wanted to see Angkor Wat.
Visiting Siem Reap is a literal Temple Run which is a far cry from the famous iPhone game. Days will be spent exploring the Angkor complex which houses numerous temples constructed during the Khmer empire and Angkor Wat is just one of the many temples. From start until the end of the tour, it will be all about the temples

First stop for our temple run is Angkor Thom, we started in one of the gates which is crowned with 4 faces. The carving of the faces are very intricate and defined, it looks quite life like as if they are stone guards that will wake up and crush you into bits when you dare to enter the gates. Moving inside the temple, there are numerous wall carvings of women in traditional garb and with fingers curled back with the fingertips almost touching the back of the palms. These women dancers were actually called Apsara which are supernatural females skilled in the art of dancing. Even if it has been subjected to the elements, the craftmanship that went into the wall carvings is still evident


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Siem Reap: Beyond Angkor Wat


When this year started, I was intent to strikeout one by one my travel bucket items faster than I can add up to it. With the blessing of a seat sale from Air Asia,I was able to book a flight for a little over 8,000 Php to the city of ancient temples. I really don't have high expectations for this trip, it was mostly to see and photograph Angkor Wat and the temple in Tomb Raider (Ta Prohm). We booked an All-In package from a family run guesthouse and everything was set for the trip.