It’s been more than a year since I relocated to Siem Reap Cambodia and since I now live less than 2 miles from Angkor Wat, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to explore the temples in greater depth than I’ve done previously. Although Angkor Wat is the temple that most people immediately recognize and associate with Cambodia, there are hundreds of additional temple complexes in and around Cambodia, even stretching into the bordering countries of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. Surrounding the main temples of Angkor Thom, Preah Khan and Ta Phrom there are plenty of little known, seldom visited ruins that can be explored by folks who are willing to get off the main road and walk for as little as 5 minutes!
On Facebook yesterday, I noticed two “shares”, one from Bangkok based photojournalist Jack Kurtz and another from my long time Cambodian friend Lyno Vuth (who’s currently studying in USA). Both Jack and Lyno were posting the news of the upcoming documentary about the Khmer empire which will air on BBC tomorrow (September 24) .
Watch the first episode of Jungle Atlantis on Thursday 25 September at 20:00 BST on BBC Two, or catch it later on the BBC iPlayer. The programme was made in association with The Smithsonian Channel. For USA based viewers , mark your calendars because both episodes will air in the US on 5 October under the title Angkor Revealed.
If you’ve not yet visited Cambodia and the temples of Angkor Wat and would like to see and photograph all that there is here in Cambodia, I’ll be leading my annual Angkor Photo Workshop in July of 2015. The workshop is an opportunity to explore the temples of Angkor and to work on multimedia photo stories here in Siem Reap, as well as in Phnom Penh and Battambang. For more info or to reserve your space, click Angkor Photo Workshop
_______________________________________________________
Here’s the basic information reproduced from BBC’s website about tomorrow’s telecast:
A thousand years ago the Khmer people of Cambodia built an empire that stretched a million square kilometers. It became the largest superpower the region has ever seen. Their capital was the great city of Angkor, once the largest city on Earth. Its centerpiece was Angkor Wat – a vast temple complex covering an area more than four times the size of Vatican City. But 600 years ago the Khmer kings abandoned their capital and many of the huge structures they built were devoured by the jungle. Ever since, the people who once lived around the temples have remained an enigma. Little is known about the kings who secured their vast empire or how they constructed the wonders of Angkor Wat. In the first of this two-part series, an international team of archaeologists and scientists use revolutionary technology to reveal the true scale and extent of the lost city of Angkor and to find out how its people lived and died. Using a new laser scanning technology called LiDAR, they discover the secrets of this forgotten civilisation. The laser beams penetrate the dense jungle canopy to reveal the ghostly footprint of the lost city beneath the trees.
Watch the first episode of Jungle Atlantis on Thursday 25 September at 20:00 BST on BBC Two, or catch it later on the BBC iPlayer. The programme was made in association with The Smithsonian Channel, which will be transmitting both episodes in the US on 5 October under the title Angkor Revealed.
Finally, here’s my favorite photo from Angkor Wat…..
And just afterwards….a shot by Angkor Photo Workshop participant Tim Dobbins. Thanks Tim for capturing the moment!
Photo By Tim Dobbins, 2011
That last one of you and the kids wraps it up. You in A place that you love, doing what you love. Good stuff!
Thanks Kat, I love this photo too! Workshop participant Tim Dobbins took it, I am so glad he was there to capture the moment. Thanks Tim!