San Diego Wedding Photographer

Follow me on Twitter / Be my friend on Facebook

I’ll be taking retainers for next year’s RPTE to Thailand and Cambodia very soon. Email me at info@bobbyearle with the subject “RPTE 2012 SIGNUP” and you’ll be on the list of first people to be able to jump on before it’s announced on the blog.

——————–

Today was the last full day. And we went out with a bang. We went to the lake village, took a boat out to the Tonle Sap, swam, and rode in canoes through the village and into the mangrove forests. Putting this day into words is nearly impossible. This is one of the absolute highlights of the trip for me. It’s so calm and peaceful.

——————–

This is Mr. Don…

…and the above images sum him up as good as any series of words ever could. One of the reasons I love the one and only Don so much :)

Off to school.

This little buddy steered our canoe from the back :)

I smoke cigarrettes for my UC and my hair curls something terrible because of the humidity. Those are my excuses. Ali, on the other hand, looks creepy like that for no excusable reason ;)

These are some instagram shots — those shrimp were DEELISH!!!

Not a bad place to be reading A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis ;)

Hank and I enjoy a good game of volleyball. Fortunately, Cambodians also love a good game of volleyball. Unfortunately, they love it so much that they wouldn’t let us squeeze in at this VERY serious court in downtown Siem Reap. This place was SERIOUS. I felt like I was starring in White Men Can’t Jump 2! It took us a good 15-20 minutes to finally make a game happen. These courts are no joke. They play for money and they are very into winning. It was just the two of us, so all I have is some video of us showing up. Such a cool experience…

We ended up winning our first game and BARELY losing our second game. Made a dollar and then lost a dollar. Good times :)

The next morning we woke up early and headed to the Bangkok airport to catch our flights home :(

Saying goodbye to my dear, dear friends in Cambodia is never easy. But it’s always nice to know that I’ll be seeing them in a year. Who else is coming with me??? I’ll be taking retainers for next year’s RPTE to Thailand and Cambodia very soon. Email me at info@bobbyearle with the subject “RPTE 2012 SIGNUP” and you’ll be on the list of first people to be able to jump on before it’s announced on the blog.

——————–

To the group that I feel so honored to have led around the world… I miss you all so much. I couldn’t have been happier with each of you being there. Like I told you all at our last dinner, when we got hit with that monsoon after like 30 hours of travel during our first outing to the beach and you all ended up having a blast through it?! I knew I had a special crew of people. Collectively, I feel you took away more from this trip than any other group I’ve taken — and that’s saying a lot as I LOVE my other groups (I’m going to get some flack from past RPTE peeps for that one :P).

With all sincerity, thank you so much for coming along with me. Love you all ;)

Bobby

Contact Bobby / View Wedding Portfolio / Travel the Globe with Bobby

Follow me on Twitter / Be my friend on Facebook

I’ll be taking retainers for next year’s RPTE to Thailand and Cambodia very soon. Email me at info@bobbyearle with the subject “RPTE 2012 SIGNUP” and you’ll be on the list of first people to be able to jump on before it’s announced on the blog.

——————–

Today was incredible. We do two things that are out of this world. Watch the sunrise over Angkor and we go to Beng Melea. The sunrise over Angkor is, in my opinion, one of those bucket list type things people need to do before they die. It feels like this natural phenomenon (the sunrise) blending perfectly with this man-made phenomenon (Angkor Wat). It’s a special sight to see.

Beng Melea is out of this world. It takes a couple hours to get to by tuk tuk — and that is half of what makes it so amazing. The temple itself is out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a jungle temple. Completely overgrown and has yet to be severely excavated — it gives you the feeling of what it would have been like to hike through the jungles of Cambodia a hundred years ago and come up on one of these temples before any tourism existed. It’s absolutely insane.

My favorite part of the day, however, is the two hour ride back home. We leave around sunset — and this gives you incredible glimpses of Cambodian country-side lifestyle. Houses are open so you see everyone making dinner, building fires, and just gathering together for the evening. All with the sunset. It’s incredible. This part of the trip tends to be a major highlight for everyone on the trip :)

——————–

Bobby

Contact Bobby / View Wedding Portfolio / Travel the Globe with Bobby

Follow me on Twitter / Be my friend on Facebook

I’ll be taking retainers for next year’s RPTE to Thailand and Cambodia very soon. Email me at info@bobbyearle with the subject “RPTE 2012 SIGNUP” and you’ll be on the list of first people to be able to jump on before it’s announced on the blog.

——————–

So this is a little continuation of day 9. Monkeys are so amazing that they deserve their own post entirely, imo. This year’s group was the most comfortable and brave with the monkeys over any other I’ve ever been to Cambodia with. Every person, at one point or another, had a wild monkey hanging off of and climbing all over them :)

——————–

That monkey (right) actually ended up getting Ali’s earring off of her! And Ali actually ended up snatching it away from the monkey when he wasn’t looking :)

Hank is a straight up monkey charmer. Here’s some video of him with his new children…

Interacting with wild monkeys is one of the funnest things on this planet. It still shocks me that it’s a fairly normal part of my life :)

Bobby

Contact Bobby / View Wedding Portfolio / Travel the Globe with Bobby

Follow me on Twitter / Be my friend on Facebook

I’ll be taking retainers for next year’s RPTE to Thailand and Cambodia very soon. Email me at info@bobbyearle with the subject “RPTE 2012 SIGNUP” and you’ll be on the list of first people to be able to jump on before it’s announced on the blog.

——————–

These next two days… Sigh, Cambodia. I just cannot get enough of this country. I feel so fortunate to be able to return again and again to this wonderland of content living. These two days consisted of temples and interaction with the people of Cambodia. We also played with some monkeys, but I’ll post about that on it’s own tomorrow :)

Cambodia is where the photography side of the trip really takes a crazy turn. Thailand is beautiful for shooting — but walking around Cambodia just feels like you’re passing photographic masterpiece after photographic masterpiece. It’s all there to be shot — you just have to shoot it.

——————–

This guy invited us into his home during lunch time. He was with his three daughters and several grandchildren. This was his youngest grandchild :) They insisted we eat with them and hang out even longer than we were able. I love Cambodians…

Mr Sola on the left and Mr Sith on the right.

This is “Ghost Gate”. It wasn’t until last year that I was able to see this place. Cambodians are severely superstitious — and Ghost Gate is strongly believed to be haunted by the locals. Mr. Sola, for example, has only been to Ghost Gate two times. Once last year with me and then once more this year. He only goes there because he knows I love it so much. I’m told that people can commit all kinds of awful crimes at night here because under no circumstances will police come to Ghost Gate at night. The belief is that all of those that died under Pol Pot pass through here at night.

I asked Mr Sola how much money I would have to pay him to stay the night here and his response was an abrupt “no money…” :)

This little guy. Ugh. I could have taken him home in a heartbeat. He told me I was handsome and that Ali was pretty — and when we told him that we thought he was the handsome one, his face lit up like crazy. He’s one of those kids that you instantly know has an incredibly sweet heart.

Bobby

Contact Bobby / View Wedding Portfolio / Travel the Globe with Bobby

Follow me on Twitter / Be my friend on Facebook

I’ll be taking retainers for next year’s RPTE to Thailand and Cambodia very soon. Email me at info@bobbyearle with the subject “RPTE 2012 SIGNUP” and you’ll be on the list of first people to be able to jump on before it’s announced on the blog.

——————–

These next two days were incredible. We went to Erawan in Kanchanaburi for a full day of waterfalling :) After spending the evening hanging out on the River Kwai, we woke up bright and early for the trek into Cambodia. We spent the afternoon in Siem Reap at the temples and, most importantly, with my tuk tuk family. Seeing them, as always, was an incredible treat. I love these guys so much — a year between visits is just too long.

Within hours, the entire group seemed to have a sense for what I was constantly referring to. The difference that sets Cambodia apart. Thailand is incredible, but Cambodia is magical. There’s something so welcoming about it.

——————–

All Lightroom. All VSCO.

Hank ate some insane little pepper that put him on blast for probably 20 minutes. Kaan, my friend who’s guesthouse we stay at, gave him a packet of sugar to help :)

On our way to Erawan falls.

Hank jumped off of the TOP of this waterfall. Here’s the video. Crazy.

And after one more amazing sunset over our hangout spot, we were off to Cambodia…

That’s a 3.2 second exposure… hand held :)

Bobby

Contact Bobby / View Wedding Portfolio / Travel the Globe with Bobby