Southeast Asia Panoramas
Once again I’ve been blessed with the good fortune to travel, this time to the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Taiwan. It was an incredible experience full of extremes, viewing the ruined temples of Angkor Wat one day, and the torture and detainment center of the Khmer Rouge regime the next. Here I would like to share some of the panoramas I stitched together from the trip (and don’t worry, more photographs from the journey will follow!)
We arrived at the entrance to Angkor Wat, Cambodia at sunrise. The ruins are silhouetted in the distance behind the meditation pond.
Inside the temples at Angkor Wat, this is the centermost structure. Be sure to notice the people at the base to give a sense of scale. The enormity, and the consistent detail, is beyond impressive.
An interior courtyard inside the Angkor Wat temples. The detail in the stonework is still incredible, even after the countless years of torrential downpours experienced every day during the wet seasons of the year.
Approaching the entrance to the ruins of Angkor Thom. Click to view the larger version - you can see the gigantic faces carved into the stone of the tower’s peaks.
There are a number of technical problems with this panorama - some digital junk at the base, focus changing on the right side, Kathy’s head morphing into a cloud. Those aside, I’m still partial to it. Here we’re looking out from Angkor Thom towards the woods and the Elephant Terrace.
Inside the temple at Ta Prohm, where the trees have completely overgrown the temple, bearing onto the roof and reaching their roots through the stone.
Another tree towering over the ruins of Ta Prohm Temple. A feat of nature, and of humankind’s creation.
Leaving Ta Prohm. As evidenced, I simply could not get enough photographs of the trees merged into the stonework.
Looking out to the horizon of the northern coast of Taiwan, in Guanyinshan National Park. The natural rock formations are stunning, having been eroded into their present-day shapes by the forces of wind and water.
06/16/2010 at 6:51 am
I loved these pictures, especially since I’d recently seen similar ones and read about these temples recently in either Smithsonian or National Geographic. In fact, there was a shot of the tree in your next to last photo that was almost the same.
To see and read about these places in magazines is one thing, but to actually see them in person must have been a truly awe inspiring experience.