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photographie-irie > Citadelle La Ferriere, Milot, Haiti      Famous mountaintop fortress on the northern side of the island, built by King Henri Christophe at the start of the 19th century to defend Haiti if the French tried to retake their former colony. It is the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere, has undergone considerable restoration, and is considered one of the cultural wonders of the world by the United Nations, along with the Acropolis, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Borobudur temple in Indonesia. It's scale is massive, dominating the hillside with walls over 12 feet thick and 120 feet tall. For all it's impenetrability, it was never attacked by the French.
photographie-irie > Ta Prom Jungle Temple , Angkor, Cambodia Known as the 'Jungle Temple', Ta Prom's architecture and sculpture merges with the jungle growing around it in curious ways. Here a tower of roots climbs and engulfs a stone wall next to a stone tower. Less tourists visit here than the main structures, but it's ever more popular for that 'Tomb Raider' look, which movie was partially filmed here.
photographie-irie > Ta Prom Umbrella, Angkor, Cambodia It's often very hot and humid at Angkor, but the shade of these ruins offers cool mid-day retreat from the hot, hard work of sightseeing. Umbrellas and parasols are commonplace in SE Asia as much to protect from the sun as rain, since fair complexions are most highly treasured throughout the area. Mid-day relaxation is also in good local form, doing the early morning and late afternoon thing to beat the heat.
photographie-irie > Stairway to Temple, Phnom Kulen, Cambodia      Life size Buddha and animal friends cavort atop the long stairway leading to the giant Buddha temple at mountaintop Phnom Kulen. The path is amazingly absent people now, and notably the beggars that normally line the stairway to take visitors' small change on their way to the big Buddha. I was told this fortuitous circumstance arose because it was lunch time - the beggars were all on lunch break!
photographie-irie > Waterfall, Phnom Kulen, Cambodia      After the heat and humidity of lower elevations, even the limited 1600 foot height of Camdodia's tallest peak offers relief, especially with a swim at the waterfall. This is the largest and lower of two major waterfall tiers in the dry season. Monsoon season waterflow is supposed to be immense. Modest Cambodians mostly swim fully clothed, and arrive in crowds on Sundays, both for the sacred appeal for devotees of washing under the falls, and for the simple, cool refreshment of it all. As remote as the site is, commercial interests seem to take over as they do wherever visitors flock. Swimming is free for now, once you've paid the $20 admission as a foreigner. Expect to find persistent guides, vendors, and beggars along the way, even this far away from Angkor.
photographie-irie > Mountaintop Temple, Phnom Kulen, Cambodia      Merging harmoneously with the mountaintop jungle, and somewhat lost in it, lies this Buddhist wat (temple) atop Phnom Kulen.
photographie-irie > Ta Prom Tree on Temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia      Overrun by nature, or simply an evolving part of it? Just a matter of attitude, perhaps, as Buddhist perspective might find appropriate natural harmony in this mix. Not quite standard tree-house design, with the tree wrapping the structure rather than supporting it, but typical of many pleasant serendipities as jungle and stone uniquely merge in imaginative ways.
photographie-irie > Ta Prom Disrepair, Ta Prom, Angkor, Cambodia      Many major sites at and around Angkor Wat are undergoing structural strengthening and historic restoration, but a mysterious charm accompanies the natural state of many less restored monuments. Beyond escaping the crowds, part of the attraction may be simply the ability to actually cruise these tenuous ruins in a way that would never be allowed in the US due to safety issues. The Cambodians' own unique safety code unveiled itself at more distant ruins I visited, however, where I was told not to venture some places where locals readily walked. Initially I was just told the areas were closed to foreigners, but with persistent questioning was informed of mine danger where clearing operations hadn't yet been completed. The somewhat discomforting perspective was that local lives were all right for the risk, but visitors' lives and limbs were not due to the potentially bad press that might affect tourism dollars if a foreigner were hurt. It was then really my choice whether to go or not, since enforcement was still quite loose once you got past local preference for keeping foreigners grouped. But even if you might object on principal to this different value attributed to lives of locals and foreigners, it's still pretty hard to set out afoot when told not to because of mines. There were a few places I really wanted to go on my own, but deferred without confidence or a trusted guide or with only the incomplete information I was able to gather.
photographie-irie > Temple Window, Angkor, Cambodia      Jungle and stone, jungle and stone, wherever you go. Look through any window and see more jungle and stone, in this instance with a surprising lack of people. There are lots of places to escape the huge crowds, but of course these tend to be the less spectalular and less restored monuments. Even after spending more than a a week here, there was still more to see, especially if wanting photogenic weather and times less crowded. But temple burnout occurs at different points with different people. For some a few days is more than enough.
Citadelle La Ferriere, Milot, Haiti     

Famous mountaintop fortress on the northern side of the island, built by King Henri Christophe at the start of the 19th century to defend Haiti if the French tried to retake their former colony. It is the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere, has undergone considerable restoration, and is considered one of the cultural wonders of the world by the United Nations, along with the Acropolis, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Borobudur temple in Indonesia. It's scale is massive, dominating the hillside with walls over 12 feet thick and 120 feet tall. For all it's impenetrability, it was never attacked by the French.
photographie-irie > Citadelle La Ferriere, Milot, Haiti      Famous mountaintop fortress on the northern side of the island, built by King Henri Christophe at the start of the 19th century to defend Haiti if the French tried to retake their former colony. It is the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere, has undergone considerable restoration, and is considered one of the cultural wonders of the world by the United Nations, along with the Acropolis, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Borobudur temple in Indonesia. It's scale is massive, dominating the hillside with walls over 12 feet thick and 120 feet tall. For all it's impenetrability, it was never attacked by the French.
Citadelle La Ferriere, Milot, Haiti     

Famous mountaintop fortress on the northern side of the island, built by King Henri Christophe at the start of the 19th century to defend Haiti if the French tried to retake their former colony. It is the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere, has undergone considerable restoration, and is considered one of the cultural wonders of the world by the United Nations, along with the Acropolis, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Borobudur temple in Indonesia. It's scale is massive, dominating the hillside with walls over 12 feet thick and 120 feet tall. For all it's impenetrability, it was never attacked by the French.
See photo in original gallery.
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