For some, Angkor Wat epitomizes the Cambodian travel experience. The ancient ruins at Angkor stand as one of mankind's greatest engineering achievements, best experienced as day breaks - so long as you beat the tourist hordes to a good spot across the lake.

Visitng Ta Prohm feels like you are rediscovering a lost kingdom being reclaimed by the forest. The trick is to go to Ta Prohm first, while everyone else is at Angkor Wat, and explore the crumbling ruins alone.

The passage is a funky street lined with restaurants, pubs, hotels and galleries in the heart of the Siem Reap. I highly recommend Chamkar for Cambodian-French style vegetarian dishes that omnivores will love as well.

Everywhere I go, I check out the market. The Old Market in Siem Reap is not to be missed. Situated along the Siem Reap River at the south side of the Old French Quarter near Pub Street, the Old Market (locally known as Phsar Chas) is a covered, open air market tightly packed with vendors. As you enter on one side of the market, there are vendors selling traditional handicrafts and souvenirs: silver and spices, t-shirts and trinkets, carvings and jewelry, Khmer silk and perfumes. As you delve deeper, you'll find vendors selling fruits, vegetables, meat and fresh seafood--as in breathing, writhing fish, eels and sea snakes. At the heart of the market, of course, is a busy food court where vendors serve locals and travelers soups and dishes. And on the outskirts is the houseware and hardware section. The market closes at sunset...the pulse then shifts to Pub Street! Map: http://www.canbypublications.com/maps/somrmapmain.htm

I arranged for a 5:00 a.m. ride with a tuk tuk driver and skipped the sunrise at Angkor Wat in hopes of being the first to arrive at Ta Prohm that morning. Built in 1186 A.D., its original name, Rajavihara, means royal temple. The disheveled blocks, the jungle, the mist, the quiet and an absence of distraction contributed to incidental meditation. There's a surreal beauty where nature overtakes architecture, something sensual about nature's and time's touch. I came to Ta Prohm to be close to something ancient, to feel the power of nature, to steal a moment of beauty.

As a travel landscape photographer, the sunrise at the Angkor Wat Temple is something I have always wanted to capture. I have never heard of their being a bad sunrise and the morning we made the trip to the temple at 4:45AM gave us a spectacular sky that made it impossible to take a bad photograph! The photo I am using for this highlight was taken on an iPhone. What the photograph doesn't show are the thousand tourists behind me that are also jockeying for the perfect spot to capture the sky, the temple, and the reflection but the experience is still worth the early morning and fighting the hoards of tourists plus you get an early start exploring the other nearby temples and beat the Cambodian heat!

The giant stone faces greet visitors as they enter the Bayon complex. This ancient Khmer center houses over 200 of these serene faces, with theories they were modeled after the bodhisattva (enlightened being) or the Bhuddist king, Jayavarman VII, who built the city center.

In Cambodia there is beauty and art not just around the increasingly well-trod Angkor Wat, but also in the remote temples and difficult-to-get-to ruins that are still partially hidden among under encroaching jungle. Splendid buddhas in full view; hidden carvings behind stone pillars; the colors and texture of crumbling walls built a thousand years ago; the dappling by lichen and mould on walls that have witnessed the best and worst of humanity; ornate carvings encouraging the search for enlightenment; architecture that inspires; or simply the light filtering through windows and vines casting glorious shadows on ancient structures.

Freshwater fish abounds in Cambodia, and the best we had was at Chez Sophea, in front of Angkor Wat. Despite the odd hour (we had been biking in the temples all day and hadn't stopped to eat), Parisian owner Matthieu welcomed us into his restaurant and prepared this delicious kruen, a dry curry made with local fish.

We visited the inspiring Green Gecko Project while in Siem Reap. It's an organization run by a husband and wife team who educates and cares for Cambodian street children. This is a great place to volunteer or drop off donations. It's remarkable to see how they've transformed the lives of the children and their families.

Packed with over 240 venders selling hand-made Cambodian crafts, the Night Market of Siem Reap is hands-down one of the best places to pick up unique souvenirs. Established in 2007, and running well into the nighttime hours, the market holds an array of items from handmade tapestries, to paintings, to carvings made of wood or stone. Plus, buying local keeps all proceeds within the community. Two of my all-time favorite t-shirts were picked up at this very market, just after I took this photo. And as with most worldly markets, you can definitely barter with the venders over the price. Cost for my two t-shirts (which have stood up much better than anything purchased in the states): $2. The feeling I get when I wear them: priceless.

I try to avoid superlatives. I think they are overused in western society. So when I say that this is the best salad in Cambodia, I am not kidding you in the least. In fact, it may be one of the best salads in the world. To put off dinner for a few hours, my mom and I decided to have a tea and appetizers at our hotel. We saw the banana blossom salad on the menu and thought that looked like it could be enough to hold us over and - given that we were not very hungry - possibly enough to feed us for dinner. We did not know what to expect. This banana blossom salad was simply mouth watering. It was spicy enough to warrant a beverage on hand, but so full of flavor, spices, and fresh ingredients that it was hard to keep from shoveling the whole thing in my mouth at once! The salad far-exceeded any expectation we had of it and served a large enough portion that we did not need any other food for the evening on our sparse appetites. If you visit Siem Reap, you will find the Shining Angkor Boutique Hotel about half way between the entrance to Angkor Wat and the city center.

In the shadow of the splendid Angkor Wat and the beautiful new hotels many people live a much less glamorous life. I wanted to see the real Cambodia during my time there and worked with Go Philanthropic Foundation (GoPhilanthropic.org) to connect with fantastic small non profits doing amazing and effective work. I spent four of my five days in Siem Reap with these organizations, visiting projects I had donated to prior to my visit. I saw the impact of my support as I met the smiling faces, visited the water wells, classrooms, villages and schools. This experience overshadowed Angkor Wat and will remain a highlight.

Angkor Be Hotel is located in The Passage, a vibrant alley in the heart of Siem Reap. This unique boutique hotel has only three rooms, each showcasing the work of local artists and hand made furniture. The upper level rooms share the buildingwith a restaurant and art gallery. With such an intimate setting, guests receive outstanding, personalized attention. More importantly, hotelier Martin Dishman runs his businesses with social and environmental responsible practices and partners with NGOs to give back to the community.

Just another day at the office for this cured meat vendor at the Old Market, one of the largest and busiest markets in Siem Reap. On the hottest day, it's a surprisingly cool spot to wander and haggle. Pass by aisles and aisles of seafood, meat and produce merchants to arrive at the food court in the center.

Siem Reap's Central Market is a fun one, with food, clothing, and goods a wander is worth your time. The touts are thin and the restaurants surrounding the market all sale good, affordable Khmer food. One of the main streets, Sivatha Road is a couple of blocks NW of the market. The Central Market is quite big for this tiny town so it is tough to miss it.

Les Artisans d'Angkor is part tourist attraction, part shopping destination. The company creates workshops that teach young rural Cambodians an artistic trade to help them find work near their homes. At the Les Artisans d'Angkor shop in Siem Reap, you can take a tour through the workshops and watch students as they learn how to create silk fabrics and garments, stone and wood carving, lacquer ware, polychrome products, silver plating and silk paintings. After you have finished the tour you can head to the store where you can purchase the items you just saw being created, in addition to a host of other fantastic Cambodian souvenirs, and feel good about supporting local craftsmen while you do so.

Tourists swarm to the hills of the park to watch the sun set, but fewer people attempt to greet it at dawn. We embarked to the complex around 5 am and sat ourselves at the library temple while still dark. It was a magical experience to be introduced to Angkor Wat for the first time as the sun slowly illuminated the grand complex.

The way down from the top of Angkor Wat is much more direct than the labyrinth of passages to climb up. Those of us who made the climb returned via wide and very steep stairs that fortunately had a cable to hang on to as a crude bannister.

Finally catching a quiet breath at Banteay Srei temple when the other tourists left, I saw this image make itself. The visual eye contact from the statue looked right through the frame to my eyes creating an intimate thought process.