An Elephant Walk to Remember

When I was in Cambodia, I partook of an elephant safari ... an elephant walk. This late afternoon journey took us through the steaming jungle near Siem Reap and Angkor Wat to the mountain top of Phnom Bakheng and its ancient Buddhist temple to watch the sunset.

When walking at a leisurely pace, elephants lumber and plod along, swaying back and forth. Perched up in the throne you do have a commanding view as your Mahout guides the beast along the path. The rocking motion is not exactly gentle and you have to keep an eye out for low hanging vines and branches.

The photos might be oddly composed and a bit blurry. The first being a "no-lookie-self-portrait" snapped at arm's-length. The second image captures the sway of not only my fellow safariers perched in their throne, but is compounded by the low-light of the encroaching evening in the jungle and by me being rocked by my own elephant. As for the odd angle of the third pic...I can only assume their elephant shifted when my safari mates clicked the shutter.

This is the Wat on top of Phnom Bakheng. It was the first of the mountain temples built in the Angkor area in the late 9th century by the Khmer king Yasovarman.

And lastly, the temple in silhouette against the sunset.