Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Siem Reap: We come here to ride

All the time that I was feeling the cold wind
riding on this three-wheeled carriage
I felt my heart sinking like a stone
Solid but cold. All the time I was feeling the drizzle
following an afternoon stroll, I was finding your heart—
stuck inside one of the holes in Angkor.

Getting around Siem Reap Province is easy. Drivers would come to you and offer a ride even if you never call on them. They offer a tour as if they are offering goods or food for sale. Of course, choosing the best mode of transportation depends on one’s preference.

Cambodia offers a wide range of transportations, from the usual means of navigating around like the taxi down to the most innovative means of getting around like an improvised motorcycle cart filled with people and cargo.

on the road

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST. Literally speaking, we ate dust passing by this route on our way to visit the Roulos Group. I don't need face powder to retouch, I am all set. Yeba!


Most of the locals in Siem Reap, particularly the women, use bicycles to navigate around. For a faster ride, motorcycles are prefered. Tuk-tuk and Camry taxi are mostly hired by tourists. For larger capacity, the locals make use of motorcycle cart (a cart attached to a motorcycle), pick-up truck, or huge truck.

bicycle1

BICYCLES. Village women riding the bike.

bicycle2

Young girls in uniforms riding the bike on their way to school. They ride with so much ease and poise. I can't even ride the bike for several hours. ;-(


tuktuk driver

TUK-TUK. Here comes our driver ready to pick us up.

pickup

PICKUP TRUCK. The dust becomes a thick mud that sticks to the front, back, and insides of the vehicle. Once in awhile they would stop in a nearby station to clean up.

elephant ride

ELEPHANT. Oh yea, they offer elephant rides too. For US $15 it will save you from the long and exhausting walk on the way to the Phnom Bakhaeng temple.

mini truck

THREE-WHEELED TRUCK? It looks like the tuk-tuk only it can accomodate more people.

minitruck2

MINI TRUCK. We spotted this truck full of people inside and on the roof. I am so used to this scene and it makes me happy to know that like us, they also like to "maximize" space here.


moto

MOTO. If you like to get around the fastest means possible, taking the moto is the most appropriate ride. You will be surprise, but this formidable transpo can accomodate more than three people including their cargo. Good balance is a key.


bus

BIG BUS. Most buses are found on the national highway. It's like David and Goliath fighting for their space in the middle of the hustle and bustle.

motowithwagon

MOTO-CART. Another one of those improvised ride wherein a cart is attached to a moto.

plow



CARRIAGE DRIVEN BY COWS. This looks certainly familiar.


I am sure there are other means of transportation. What I captured here are just some of the usual ride I saw along the way. You’ll get a good idea of what it’s like. We ride the tuk-tuk most of the time we were touring around the temples. It is the most conducive for taking photos from a moving vehicle.

-------

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love all the photos ate! They're awesome!

Jeepneys; I kinda miss riding in them actually. And the pedicabs ... Hehe.

By the way, were you using a telephoto lens when shooting all the photos above?

(:

Anonymous said...

Great photo's and fantastic colour. Like the Philippines but different!

Anonymous said...

Natuwa naman ako sa set na to. Napa observative mo talaga. Check out the mud on the cor at pic4. kala ko paint na. At buti nakapunta kayo sa Roulus Group. Ako di ko na makayanan makakaita pa ng isang bato on the last day. hahaha. Pero if I could go back there din again, I wouldn't pass the chance to visit my faves again.

Did you try that elephant ride? Mukhang exciting eh kaso kuripot kami. Enjoyed this set.

At salamat sa pagboto sa PWA :D

my gulch said...

kyels,
thanks! no telephoto just the Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens. it's just a regular zoom lens. it's difficult getting shots from a moving vehicle but what can i do, we can't stop in every street to shoot right? as you noticed some are a bit blurry.

Mike,
thanks. yea, exactly. i didn't find any habal-habal or skylab there, which proves that Filipinos are still the most ingenious when it comes to improvising transpo, hehehehe!

Ferdz,
konting putik pa lang yan. nakakita kami ng mga sasakyan na talagang nangangapal na sa putik lalo na yung route galing ng border. ako din, kung makabalik ako, punta uli ako sa mga paborito kong temples, siyempre aabangan ko na sunrise sa Angkor Wat.

nah, we didn't ride the elephant. kuripot din kami no. eto pa, we went to Phom Bakhaeng twice. kase nung una umuulan. na-miss ko na nga sunrise e di na ako papayag mamiss ang sunset di ba? so umakyat uli kami the next day. kasabay lang namin umakyat yung elepante, nauna pa kami sa temple, o di ba? super bagal ng mga elepante na yan nakakatakot pa yung mga upuan nila, tipong yung mga foreigners malalaglag sa upuan lalo na pag gumegewang yung elepante. ngapala, sana manalo ka sa PWA...

Sidney said...

He,he...they have it all. As Mike points out a bit like the Philippines but different.
Nice street shots...it is almost if I am there!

Anonymous said...

nice work. i can imagine you roaming around cambodia with bright eyes and a ready heart. :) i like the composition of the last photo. simpleng simple!

pieterbie said...

Wow, this is terrific, you are really treating your visitors to a lesson on the Cambodian way of life. Love the bicycle shots in particular, the one with the two schoolgirls but also the one before that with the women in the local colourful attire.
Great stuff, this is real travel experience.
I agree with your comment on my late Halloween photo, what you said about the clutter. I guess that is the main reason I took the photo: seeing is believing :-)

Anonymous said...

Sidney,
thanks. and you can almost feel the shake of my hands just to make everything still while i hold onto the camera.

cathy,
"bright eyes and ready heart". love the description. actually, wide-eyed pa kamo, trying so hard not miss anything, hehehe!

peter,
i am not surprised at all. oh by the way, that piece of cloth on top of the woman's head (right side of the photo), they call it krama. everyone seems to be wearing it, even the men.

Anonymous said...

i wish i could go for an elephant ride *looks wistfully* and you didn't told me you were in singapore two weeks ago! i could have showed you around singapore! and took a picture of the elusive rayts! er...haha

Anonymous said...

you're using a d80, i presume. planning to buy one also next year.

felt like i also rode there beside you

Anonymous said...

naks nice photos! was thinking of going to cambodia when i was in thailand...i wanna see the angkor wat!!! si ate lynn ba kasama mo?

Anonymous said...

tien,
hehehe. you are kind. but you are busy right? besides, it would only make me look dense having been in Singapore four times and not being able to make it on my own. i am also quite sure you've tried the reverse bungy yourself.

tutubi,
yes, D80 it is. i wish have better lens. goodluck!

luthien,
was? you were in Thailand? kelan? pinag-uusapan ka pa lang namin ni Arni kahapon, pupunta ka daw Thailand. was na pala, hehe. oo pare punta ka Cambodia, ibang feeling. oo, kasama din si Oki. sa Vietnam, kami na lang ni Oki.

Anonymous said...

Ate, even though some of them a blurry, they still have the artistic touch in them. The documentary style. That's quite a good lens, you have the length and the width you need, diba? Suited for traveling po.

(:

Blog Archive

Followers