Good Morning, Phnom Penh!

P.S.A. (=Pre-Script Again):
As already mentioned in previous post, I made a mistake by regarding the river I'm talking about here as Mekong River. It should be "Tonle Sap River". Therefore, I'm revising my post below. I'm also adding some information about Tonle Sap River. For those who have read this post before, I apologize for the mistake. Thank you. :-)

Phnom Penh, September 4th 2011

Tonle Sap River was just across my hotel. I got up, (no shower... pssttt) and crossed the street with all my gear and my spirit. Good morning, Phnom Penh!!

Tonle Sap River before sunrise. Exposure time: 20 sec.
Honestly speaking, I hate that under-constructed building. It's ruining my sunshine :-(

In this part of the city, I didn't seem to be an early riser at all, for I woke up to music from across the street. People were already at the park doing... exercise (again)! In fact, when I just started to get busy with my camera, some were already sitting down on the benches by the river. They were already taking a rest after their morning exercise. One course of their day is already done whilst mine has just started.

My Cambodian friend made a very good photo composition with his pocket camera. And that, made me jealous, even to this minute. I'm 40% jealous, because he was lucky to have 2 boats in sight. The other 60% is because it didn't occur to me to move to another side of this very very long never-ending river. Who said I have to stay put across my hotel only? Ah. Well, part of me gives an excuse for that. That's because I was too worried I would loose the moment by moving too much. Once I move, I would have to set the position of my camera on my tripod. That seems not to take long. Yes, it doesn't. But, regarding to the seconds of the sun emerging from the horizon, not even a second should be wasted. Anyway, if you'd like to view the photo that had made me jealous, just click here.

The sun is coming!!

I had been thinking that this is Mekong River. Although not as grand, Tonle Sap River is not less interesting than Mekong River. Let me quote from Wikipedia:

The Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot that was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.[1]

The Tonlé Sap is unusual for two reasons: its flow changes direction twice a year, and the portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons. From November to May, Cambodia's dry season, the Tonlé Sap drains into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. However, when the year's heavy rains begin in June, the Tonlé Sap backs up to form an enormous lake.

According to what I see on the map, it looks like that Tonle Sap River meets up with Mekong River not too far away from this Sisowath Boulevard. In the internet, there's quite plenty of information about Tonle Sap River and its lake. You can check this also.

This is the long park between Tonle Sap River and the main street, Sisowath Boulevard. In previous post I showed you a night view of the park.

I just want to show how clean and pleasant it is.

Once again, a glimpse of the backyard of the royal palace. Those black dots in the sky aren't dirt from my lens. They are birds. You'll see later.

There you are. The birds were flying so vigorously that I hardly could make a frame with the most birds. I must mention how I love today's blue sky hovering above. It's definitely my sky.

This is the broader view. As mentioned in previous post, this is not the front side of the royal palace. If I'm not mistaken, I read somewhere that at times the royal family would gather on this stage to enjoy sunset.

On the other side of the royal palace is Phnom Penh National Museum. The blue sky, green trees and grass, orange-brick roof, that integrated altogether with the golden morning sun, I spelled perfect.

The alley ways of Phnom Penh City.