[cambodia 2010] independence monument and wat phnom

cambodia travel diary day four

as we travelled around phnom penh, we had a quick photo op at the independence movement built to commemorate cambodia's independence from the french. the style of the monument is meant to resemble angkor wat. so appropriate.

wat phnom is the founding spot of phnom penh. legend has is that a lady named daun penh found four bronzed buddha statues by the river banks, taking these statues to a small hill, she built a shrine on it and placed the statues in it. slowly, the city of phnom penh grew around it and the city flourished. well, legend or not, the wat phnom temple is a sacred place and is the largest religious building in the city. unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was twilight and the other pictures i took came out extremely under-exposed.

before wat phnom, we visited the killing fields and the S21 interrogation centre. i didn't think it was appropriate to take pictures of such sad places. even though the killing fields is currently a peaceful field, my heart felt really heavy and sad for the ones who died. the S21 interrogation was even worse, we walked through the interrogation rooms and cells, and it was just horrible. god bless the souls of the victims.

golden half, konica minolta vx 200

fisheye 2, kodak color plus 200

[cambodia 2010] national museum of cambodia

cambodia travel diary day 4

after touring the royal palace, it was time for the national museum of korea. now i am big museum-lover so i was really looking forward to the national museum. i was thoroughly enchanted by it. firstly, the building was gorgeous. it was built by the french but in a traditional khmer style. the museum is built with an open-air concept in mind which terrifies me to no end because i kept obsessing over the fact that there seems to be no museum standard climatic controls in place to preserve the largest collection of khmer art in the world. some of the statues were in glass cabinets but most of them were left out in the open! *shudders.



still it was wonderful being able to wander around the different rooms, examining each sculpture where there wasn't a didactic sort of museum narration in place. i like that i am able to walk around and just admire each piece as it is. the museum also has a wonderful courtyard where visitors are able to bask in the sun and being surrounded by such ancient works of art.



fisheye 2, kodak color plus 200

golden half, konica minolta vx 200

[cambodia 2010] royal palace in halves

i love how the golden half pictures of the royal palace turned out. my favourite shots are the reflection of the palace in my dad's sunglasses and the one with the flock of birds. the film is konica minolta vx 200, an expired film i picked up on ebay. i don't think it's in production anymore which is a pity because the colours are beautiful. creamy and bright at the same time. i would love to get more of it if possible.

golden half, konica minolta vx 200