2014-10-06

I’ve got a fun new video to share with you today which is the reason for the image above, which reads “To Film The Most Dangerous Railway On Earth”. That video can be seen at the bottom of this post but first it’s time to share with you some images of a particularly enchanting 900 year old Angkorian temple that sees just a handful of visitors every year.

Over the weekend I logged some serious road time, traveling several hundred miles (much of it on unpaved roads), exploring some new photo locations here in Cambodia, for a “Cambodia in-Depth” photo workshop. I won’t spill the beans yet about some of these new locations, other than to say that they are totally awesome and largely untouched by mainstream tourism.  During my visit to the ancient Angkorian temple below, I did not encounter a single tourist. The only people I found there, were a dozen workers doing restoration, two guys collecting bugs to eat, and a “guard” at the entrance, asleep in a hammock.

Temple entrance, marked with the Cambodian flag

View along the outer wall

Partially collapsed interior gallery

Small shrine, interior gallery

Land mines have been completely cleared from this area; this sign warns of unstable rubble

Carving that has until today, survived looting, which still takes place here

Restoration worker taking a break

In addition to exploring remote temples, I also spent some road time trying to futher “dial-in” some of the off-the-beaten-track places that I’ve used for my annual Angkor Photo Workshop in the past, including locations in Battambang and Battambang’s unique and amazing “bamboo railway”.

There’s lots of talk about the future demise of the Bamboo train due to the government’s plans to upgrade the tracks and start regular service (with real trains) between Phnom Penh, Battambang and Poipet.

The Bamboo train is just way too much fun and everyone will hate to see the day that they finally stop it, so, while in Battambang, it made perfect sense to get some additional video footage before it’s too late.

This is the 10th year that I’ve ridden the Bamboo Train and still, it never ceases to put a big smile on my face. Over the years, I’ve shot stills and video of  the journey using DSLRs,  but this time I shot it exclusively with the Sony HDR-AS100V POV Action Cam . The Sony AS100 is like a GoPro Hero but it’s water-resistent (even without the housing) and it has built in image stabilization. The darn thing is so small, so amazing and so much fun that it’s hard to put down (at least until the batteries run out).

After capturing some decent footage, I slapped together this “just for fun” video trailer using iMovie. If you have a Mac and some video footage, it’s easy. The whole process of creating this “Bamboo Train trailer” took me less than half an hour, thanks to iMovie templates.

Of course, it’s not the “most dangerous railway on earth” that’s just a catchy title…in fact some of you have already ridden the bamboo train, so perhaps you’ll enjoy a quick trip down memory lane….a memory worth repeating. Cheers, Karl

I’ve blogged about the Bamboo Train in the past and some of my tour guests have too, here are a few additional links about the Bamboo Train that are worth exploring, including excellent reportages by regular Jim Cline Photo Tour participants, Ursula Wall and Lisa Brockman

Battambang’s Bamboo Train

Riding Bamboo Rails (Ursula Wall)

Angkor Photo Workshop 2011 Bamboo Train

Battambang Smiles (Lisa Brockman)

Battambang Cambodia’s Second City

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